Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Mr John Hayes: John Hayes Please see the table below for the DFT proportion of contracts that have been awarded through framework agreements.2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18DfT(c)2%5%25%53%51%44%56%64%DVLA3%18%14%37%46%47%54%38%DVSA10%12%18%44%44%52%39%24%HE87%92%95%96%95%93%88%83%MCA0%1%22%20%42%32%18%34%VCA0%0%0%0%0%0%7%0%Grand Total59%70%83%82%83%78%72%74% These figures are the number of call-offs awarded from Frameworks in each financial year divided by the total number of contracts awarded (call-off plus non call-off).

Department for Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Mr John Hayes: a) Contracts put out to tender by my Department (its Executive Agencies and Arm’s length bodies) that have been cancelled 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18DFT10108311980 b) The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Paddington Station: Closures

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what compensation arrangements are in place to support passengers affected by the recent closures at Paddington station.

Paul Maynard: Compensation for passengers is set out in the Passenger’s Charter of the franchised train operator in question. Heathrow Express has its own arrangements for compensation.

Paddington Station: Closures

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to assess the resilience of Great Western Railway as a result of the recent closures of Paddington station.

Paul Maynard: Officials and ministers meet train operators and Network Rail regularly to discuss rail performance. Resilience of the rail network infrastructure is a matter for Network Rail.

Department for Transport: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the contribution from the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what work is being done to progress work to distinguish Gypsies and Travellers using 2011 census classifications in his Department.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral Answer of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what steps his Department has taken to use 2011 census classifications, including on Gypsies and Travellers, to audit racial disparities in public service outcomes.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by my Right Hon Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Right Honourable Member for Ashford in response to UIN 3079 on 11 July. The Race Disparity Audit will publish Government data about ethnicity on a website. The data will show the ethnic classifications available for each dataset covered, including where available Gypsies and Travellers.

Roads: Accidents

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that road accident and casualty statistics are published on time; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport (DfT) has postponed publication of its annual 2016 road casualty data until 28 September as a result of a delay in receiving final validated data from Transport for London (TfL), in particular the data which TfL receives and processes for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The MPS data makes up around 15% of the road casualty dataset for Great Britain and therefore a significant component of the national total. The Department for Transport is working closely with TfL to obtain final validated data from the MPS. The procedures for submitting reported road casualty data to DfT are well established and outlined in the published manuals detailing the instructions for completion of accident records and how these records should be checked for accuracy. It is the responsibility of those organisations supplying the data to DfT, either directly from police forces or via highway authorities, to ensure that accident records meet the required quality standards. DfT has regular contact with all data suppliers and works with them to identify any errors in the data on a continuous basis.

Roads: Accidents

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's policy is on reducing deaths and injuries to road users; and if he will adopt casualty reduction targets.

Jesse Norman: The British Road Safety statement sets out the Department for Transport’s vision, values and priorities in relation to British road safety. Local Authorities and the police are free to set casualty reduction targets, if they find it useful.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents involving coaches or buses were caused by a defective tyre in each year since October 2012.

Jesse Norman: The information collected by the Department on the number of reported accidents involving vehicles with more than eight seated passengers from October 2012 onwards, where a tyre was considered to be a contributory factor are included in the table. In these cases, the investigating Police Officer indicated that a tyre was “illegal, defective or under inflated”. YearCoach and bus (over 16 seated passengersMinibuses (9 to 16 seated passengers)201200201343201412201521

Railway Stations: Greater London

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of accessibility for disabled people on Transport for London stations; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and it is his responsibility to determine transport policy including accessibility requirements. The Mayor has a programme of funding to increase the number of step free stations on the London transport network.

Railways: Franchises

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements he places in franchise agreements with train-operating companies for minimum staffing levels.

Paul Maynard: The Department does not generally specify staffing levels for rail franchises, as it is up to the relevant train operator to ensure it has sufficient staff in place to provide the services to which it is committed. However, the franchise agreement does contain provision limiting the amount of change in staffing levels, which can be made in the final year of the franchise without the consent of the Secretary of State. We aim to work with the industry, and recognise that a growing railway needs more customer-facing staff.

Volkswagen

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 27 March 2017 to Question 69282, what the number of (a) Audis, (b) SEATs, (c) Skodas, (d) commercial vehicles and (e) Volkswagen private cars was to which fixes had been applied by the time of the (i) April, (ii) May, (iii) June and (iv) July meetings.

Jesse Norman: Volkswagen UK provided the Department with the following figures for the number of ‘fixes’ that have been applied to the affected UK vehicles, across the Group: Number of vehicles reported ‘fixed’ on:13 April 201711 May 201715 June 201713 July 2017Audi215,845232,478252,273262,355SEAT33,24936,21839,38640,882Skoda29,25330,35433,85044,085VW commercial vehicles27,76930,10333,75035,625VW passenger cars285,512305,269327,610340,490Total591,628634,422686,869723,437

Blackpool Airport

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials of his Department have had with Balfour Beatty on proposals to sell Blackpool Airport.

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions officials of hisDepartment have had with Balfour Beatty on commercial flight operations at Blackpool Airport

Mr John Hayes: Department for Transport officials have had no discussions with Balfour Beatty about commercial flights at Blackpool Airport, nor on any proposals to sell the airport. These are commercial matters for Balfour Beatty, as the airport’s majority owner.

Railway Stations: Finance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to make an announcement on the successful bidders for funding under New Station Fund 2.

Paul Maynard: Assessment of the New Stations Fund bids is now complete and I hope to announce the successful projects shortly.

A595: Grizebeck

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to open a consultation on improvements to the A595 near Grizebeck before the end of the current parliamentary session.

Jesse Norman: The A595 in this location is a local road and the responsibility of Cumbria County Council. Later this year the Department for Transport plans to consult on its plans to establish a Major Road Network, which would include the most important local authority A-Roads. A share of the National Road Fund, funded by Vehicle Excise Duty, will be set aside to fund improvements on this Network, which could include roads such as the A595 at Grizebeck.

Travel: Concessions

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people with a Disabled Person's Freedom Pass in London are aged between 16 and 64; and how many people in London hold an Older Person's Freedom Pass.

Jesse Norman: The freedom pass is managed by London Councils and the Department has no involvement in issuing freedom passes or the eligibility criteria. We do not hold statistics on the number of people who hold different types of freedom passes.

A120: Roundabouts

Mr Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the reasons are for the time taken to commence the construction of the new roundabout at the junction of Harwich Road and the A120 east of Colchester; and when that construction is planned to begin.

Jesse Norman: Following feedback from public consultation, the design of the new roundabout, known as Pellens Corner, had to be revised. Highways England recently awarded a contract for the construction of the new roundabout, and survey investigation work commenced on 17 July to enable the design and construction programme to be finalised. The construction of the new roundabout is expected to commence later this summer.

Travel: Concessions

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to remove the time limits on the use of the Disabled Person's Freedom Pass.

Jesse Norman: The freedom pass is administered by London Councils. The times at which freedom passes may be used, above the statutory minimum, is a matter for the Mayor.

Electric Vehicles

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many petrol stations have received funding from the public purse for installing charging stations for electric vehicles.

Jesse Norman: To date the Government has not targeted any of its support for electric vehicle chargepoints at petrol stations. All Government funded public chargepoints are required to be registered on the Government’s National Chargepoint Registry, an open source data set containing information on the type and geographical location of chargepoints. The registry is available online at: www.national-charge-point-registry.uk. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles is considering what future support to provide for public charging infrastructure, and will confirm its approach in due course.

Aviation: Alcoholic Drinks

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to engage with the airline industry on tackling problems caused by alcohol consumption on airplanes.

Mr John Hayes: The Government supports the industry and its efforts to find deliverable solutions to this increasingly high profile issue. It is important to ensure that all air passengers have a safe and pleasant experience when flying. The industry bodies have joined together to create the UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers, with the purpose of creating a common, consistent approach that co-ordinates and enhances existing efforts to prevent and minimise disruptive passenger behaviour. The Government will continue to engage and meet with a broad range of operators in the aviation sector to explore any further actions to support the Code.

Home Office

Police: Welfare Assistance Schemes

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of police officers referred to the National Police Federation Welfare Support Programme in each year from 2010 to date.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold data on the National Police Federation Welfare Support Programme. This is a matter for the Police Federation.

Breathalysers

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 16 December 2016 to Question 56787, whether the document issued in exercise of her powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 to approve a breath-testing device was intended to carry legislative weight.

Mr Nick Hurd: The relevant primary legislation is the Road Traffic Act 1988 which applies across England, Wales and Scotland. This legislation permits the Secretary of State to approve devices. The Secretary of State does this by way of a signed approval order. Such orders are not a form of legislation and do not require any Parliamentary procedure to be followed.

Police: Pensions

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will assess the potential merits of people widowed to police officers prior to April 2015 being entitled to a widow's pension in the event of their re-marriage.

Mr Nick Hurd: Survivors of officers who were members of the 2006 and 2015 police pension schemes are, since 2006, paid survivor pensions for life. On 18 January 2016, the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers in England and Wales who have died on duty and who qualified for a survivor pension after 1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivors’ benefits for life. Successive governments have been clear that we have a general presumption against making retrospective changes to public service pension schemes. However the Government believes that the arguments for making this change in respect of police officers who died on duty are sufficiently compelling to allow a limited exception in this case. There are no plans to make any further changes to survivor benefits for police pension schemes.

Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of UK citizens or residents who have fought alongside ISIS; and how many have now returned to the UK.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Approximately 850 UK linked individuals of national security concern have travelled to engage with the Syrian conflict. We estimate that just under half have returned. This number includes all those of national security concern, not just those affiliated with Daesh. Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

Europol and Interpol: Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial support the UK gave (a) Europol and (b) Interpol in 2016-17.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Europol has a budget of £82mn (€95mn) and is centrally funded from the EU budget. The UK contributes to the budget as a whole, not to individual projects. The UK financing share (net of the rebate) of the 2016 EU budget was 13.45%.INTERPOL’s accounts are operated on a calendar basis, from January to December. The UK’s annual subscription to INTERPOL for 2016 was €3,184,398 and for 2017 it is €3,143,558.

Asylum

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to lay regulations under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 relating to changes in asylum support and the role of local authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Implementation of the changes made by the Immigration Act 2016 to asylum support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and to local authority support for migrants without immigration status will involve engagement with local authorities, the devolved administrations and other partners on the preparation of the required regulations. We have not yet made a decision on the timing of this work.

Firearms: Merseyside

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have had with the National Crime Agency and Regional Serious Crime Unit on the provision of extra support and funding to Merseyside Police to tackle recent rises in gun crime.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, of 3 July 2017, Official Report, column 886, what additional support has been provided to Merseyside Police to tackle recent increases in gun crime by the (a) National Crime Agency and (b)  Regional Serious Crime Unit.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department have had with Merseyside Police on the provision of extra support to tackle recent rises in gun crime.

Mr Nick Hurd: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with law enforcement agencies as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. Joint working between law enforcement agencies is an operational matter and cannot be commented upon in detail. The National Crime Agency continues to work with all law enforcement partners to tackle the shared threat posed by illegal firearms, and stands ready to support those partners when required. The Regional Organised Crime Units provide specialist capabilities to police forces to efficiently and effectively tackle the threat from serious and organised crime, including that from the criminal use of firearms.The Home Secretary has received the letter of 29 June from the Honourable Member for Garston and Halewood and a response will be sent very shortly with a package of support for Merseyside Police to consider. The Security Minister is also arranging to see the Honourable Member very shortly, with other Merseyside MPs, the Chief Constable, and the National Crime Agency, to discuss this issue further.

Maryam Rajavi

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy to allow Maryam Rajavi into the UK.

Mr Ben  Wallace: In 2014 the Supreme Court upheld the Home Secretary’s decision to maintain the exclusion of Maryam Rajavi.

Central Motoring Police Group

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the decision of West Mercia Police to withdraw from the Central Motorway Police Group on its responsibility to collaborate effectively with other police forces.

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the withdrawal of West Mercia Police from the Central Motorway Police Group on levels of public safety; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: Decisions on how the police enforce the law and deploy their available resources, including collaboration arrangements, are the responsibility of individual Chief Officers, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.The Home Office has therefore not made any assessment of the effect of the withdrawal of West Mercia Police from the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) on levels of public safety.

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 6 of her Department's policy paper Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017, what provision will be made for EEA trafficked persons to apply for settled status.

Brandon Lewis: The Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464), sets out that EU citizens, which includes those who are victims of trafficking, who arrive in the UK before the specified date and have five years’ continuous residence will be able to apply for UK settled status. EU citizens who arrive before the specified date, but do not yet have five years’ continuous residence, will be able to make an application to stay until they have built up the necessary five continuous years’ residence to be able to apply for UK settled status.

Bombings: Birmingham

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take as a result of the admission and apology by Mick Hayes in relation to the Birmingham pub bombing in 1974.

Mr Ben  Wallace: The murder of 21 people by Irish Republican turmoil in 1974 in the Birmingham pub bombing was a heinous crime perpetrated on innocent people. Comments made by Mick Hayes in relation to the bombings are a matter for the police. The investigation into the bombings is still open and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Undocumented Workers

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the creation of the offence of illegal working on her Department's ability to (a) identify and support victims of and (b) prevent trafficking and modern slavery.

Sarah Newton: There is no evidence that the creation of the new offence of working illegally has prevented the identification of and provision of assistance to victims of modern slavery and the prevention of trafficking. The new offence has strengthened the ability of the UK to deal with those who break our immigration laws for economic benefit by working illegally in the country.

Drugs: Misuse

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on safe injecting facilities.

Sarah Newton: The Government has no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms for those who wish to use intravenous drugs which have been illicitly obtained. As set out in the 2017 Drug Strategy, published 14 July, recovery from drug misuse is a core part of our balanced approach. Drug treatment is invaluable to individuals, their families and the communities in which they live, and it is vital there is access to a range of options that can be tailored to individual need, to provide the best possible chances of recovery. People using drugs they have bought on the street is not part of a structured treatment plan.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2017 to Question 3708, on the period of blanket residence permission outlined in paragraph 24 of her Department's policy paper, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017, how (a) employers, (b) landlords, (c) banks and building societies, (d) the DVLA and (e) benefit agencies will be able to determine who has deemed leave.

Brandon Lewis: The Government will set out its plans in due course for redesigning the immigration system to introduce controls on future migration to the UK by EU nationals, including any plans for adjusting statutory checks by employers, landlords and other service providers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Red Tape Initiative

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's correspondence with the Red Tape Initiative project since that project's inception.

Margot James: Ministers do not routinely place copies of their department’s correspondence with external organisations in the House of Commons Library.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many contracts put out to tender by (a) his Department and (b) former constituent Departments have been (i) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Margot James: This information is only held for contracts that have been awarded through our shared service provider.Since 2015, of the contracts put out to tender (i) two have been cancelled; and (ii) neither were re-tendered.We do not hold records for the other years.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of public procurement contracts (a) his Department and (b) former constituent Departments awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Margot James: This information is only held for contracts that have been awarded through our shared service provider.For the years we have records, the proportion of contracts awarded through framework agreements is as follows:FY 2015-16 38%FY 2016-17 56%YTD 2017-18 74%

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many bids on average were received for each contract put out to tender by his Department and its previous constituent Departments in each year since 2010.

Margot James: We do not record this information.Information on the number of bids which were on average received for each contract put out to tender by this Department and its previous constituent Departments in each year since 2010 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Sellafield: Databases

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what digital format (a) has previously been used and (b) is currently in use to store data on the Sellafield nuclear waste plant; and what estimate he has made of the length of time each of those formats will last.

Richard Harrington: For security purposes, the Department does not publicly confirm what specific systems are being used across the sector.

Insolvency Service

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to further regulate the insolvency service.

Margot James: The Insolvency Service is an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; I have no plans to change the regulatory arrangements for the Department. However, I also have ministerial responsibility as oversight regulator for the insolvency profession and as such will continue to ensure that confidence in the insolvency regime is maintained.

Low Pay: Sharing Economy

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of workers being paid less than the national minimum wage in the gig economy.

Margot James: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



There are no official estimates of workers paid below minimum wage rates in the ‘gig economy’.The Government is committed to cracking down on employers who break the National Minimum Wage law. That is why we have increased HMRC’s 2017/18 enforcement budget to £25.3m.

Modern Working Practices Review

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to implement the findings of the Taylor review of modern working practices; and when he will implement those findings.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to implement the findings of the Taylor review of modern working practices on trade union representation.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to implement the findings of the Taylor review of modern working practices on insecurity in the work place.

Margot James: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 11 July 2017 to announce the publication of the Matthew Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, where I stated that:“This is an independent review addressed to Government. Although we may not ultimately accept every recommendation in full, I am determined that we consider the report very carefully and we will respond fully by the end of the year”.

Leave: Voluntary Work

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to bring forward proposals for three days of paid volunteering leave for employees.

Margot James: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



The Government is keen to see greater corporate responsibility on the part of employers and to encourage the public sector, charities and businesses to consider their impact on society. Employer-supported volunteering can help to build stronger communities and a stronger economy, by helping charities and community groups to do more and by creating a more motivated and productive workforce. Many public sector organisations and businesses already run impressive volunteering programmes.

Conditions of Employment: EU Law

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to introduce legislative proposals to transpose EU labour law into UK primary legislation.

Margot James: The Repeal Bill will ensure that the workers’ rights that are enjoyed under EU law will continue to be available in UK law after we have left the EU.

Fracking: Scotland

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to support the shale industry in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



The Government is in the process of devolving the onshore licensing regime to give the Scottish Government more control over the development of these resources. The Scottish Government already has responsibility for the planning and environmental aspects of the onshore oil and gas regime.

Tickets: Sales

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to publish updated guidance on sections 90 to 95 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 on secondary ticketing.

Margot James: The Digital Economy Act 2017 amended S90 of the Consumer Rights Act on secondary ticketing. My Department will be consulting industry; stakeholder and consumer interests to help inform an appropriate update of this guidance.

National Trading Standards Board

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional funding he has provided to the National Trading Standards Board to implement the recommendations of the Waterson Review accepted by the Government in its response on 13 March 2017; and what that funding will be spent on in the current financial year.

Margot James: In line with the Government’s response to the Waterson review, National Trading Standards have been tasked with investigating potential enforcement cases against sellers and secondary ticketing websites that do not comply with legislation from within their current and forthcoming annual budgets.The National Trading Standards Board have allocated £300,000 towards investigation work on ticketing for this current financial year.

Gratuities

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 20 December 2016 to Question 57781, when his Department plans to announce the outcome of the tips, gratuities, cover and service charges: proposals for further action consultation which ended on 27 June 2016.

Margot James: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



The government is currently considering next steps in light of responses to the consultation.

Infrastructure: Suffolk

Dr  Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what fiscal measures his Department is taking to support infrastructure projects in Suffolk.

Margot James: Growth Deals provide funds to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) for projects that benefit the local area and economy. New Anglia LEP’s total Growth Deal with Government is worth £290.8m and is supporting a number of key local infrastructure projects in Suffolk. This includes a commitment of £5m for a Beccles relief road, a feasibility study on the options of a third river crossing in Lowestoft and £5m to support superfast broadband roll-out across the county.

Regulation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 1354, on regulation, whether his policy on regulating over the course of the current Parliament includes contact with the Red Tape Initiative launched on 20 April 2017 and chaired by the right hon. Member for West Dorset.

Margot James: We are currently considering how best to continue to deliver our commitment to regulate more efficiently and effectively over the course of this Parliament.

Motor Vehicles: Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what action the Government plans to take to regulate the collection of data from internet-connected vehicles.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Zero Hours Contracts

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what safeguards his Department has put in place to protect people employed on zero-hours contracts from exploitation by their employers.

Margot James: This Government is clear that zero hours contracts should not be considered as an alternative to proper business planning or used as a permanent arrangement if it is not justifiable. They play a small but important part in the labour market, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals. People on zero-hour contracts make up less than 3 per cent of the workforce and almost 70 per cent are happy with the number of hours they work, according to the latest ONS Labour Force Survey research (March 2015).In May 2015 Government banned the use of exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts so that people cannot be prevented from looking for or working elsewhere when their employer does not guarantee work.Matthew Taylor in his Review of Modern Working Practices has proposed some reforms around zero-hour contracts and Government will consider the whole report carefully and make a full response later this year.

Conditions of Employment

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what safeguards his Department has put in place to protect people employed on flexible contracts from exploitation by their employers.

Margot James: The availability of atypical employment provides a number of benefits for workers who cannot or do not want to commit to ‘standard’ full-time employment. This results in high participation rates among groups which might otherwise be excluded from work altogether, like mothers returning to work.The UK’s flexible labour market means those who work in flexible arrangements continue to be entitled to employment protections regardless of the contract type. But we recognise that there are instances where the UK labour market is not working fairly for everyone and is why we asked Matthew Taylor to carry out his independent Review of Working Practices. Our full response later this year will reflect Government’s position and next steps.

Modern Working Practices Review

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to respond to each of the recommendations made by the Taylor Review of Modern Employment Practices.

Margot James: I made an oral statement to the House on 11 July 2017 to announce the publication of the Matthew Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The report is comprehensive and detailed and, as Matthew Taylor himself recognises, is just the start of a long term programme. It will require detailed, careful thought and further consultation. It is important that we take action where we need to. So we will spend the next few months building on the debate that Matthew has created and engage with stakeholders to discuss the report. We need to listen to what those who engaged in this review feel about it. This Government will give the report the careful consideration it deserves and will respond in full later this year.

Productivity: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to address the regional productivity gap in the North East.

Margot James: The objective of Government’s Industrial Strategy is to increase productivity and drive growth across the United Kingdom. We have provided a framework to build on the strengths of different places and address the factors that hold others back. This will include investing in key infrastructure projects, increasing skill levels, and backing local innovation strengths.In the North East the Industrial Strategy will build on the £379.6m million Local Growth Fund awarded to the North East LEP, which will bring an estimated 8,200 jobs and up to £300 million of public and private sector matched investment to the area.

Merchant Shipping: Minimum Wage

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to update his Department's guidance on National Minimum Wage Enforcement for seafarers.

Margot James: In collaboration with the Department for Transport and maritime stakeholders, we have been developing more detailed guidance on minimum wage law with respect to seafarers. Once this work has been completed, the guidance relating to seafarers will be published as part of a periodic update to the broader guidance on compliance with the National Minimum Wage.

Business: Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights on (a) business practices and (b) international efforts to uphold human rights.

Margot James: The UK was the first state to publish a National Action Plan to implement the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This Plan brings together a range of measures – national and international, mandatory and voluntary – to foster business respect for human rights. These include the world leading provision in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which requires large companies to say what they do to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in their business or through their supply chains, support for the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, a business-led initiative to rank the world’s largest businesses on their approach to human rights and continuing encouragement to other countries to produce their own National Action Plans.The Joint Committee on Human Rights’ recent inquiry on human rights and business which culminated in its report “Human Rights and Business 2017: Promoting responsibility and ensuring accountability” examined human rights and business in the UK including the implementation of the UK’s National Action Plan. The Government will respond to the report when the Committee reconvenes after summer recess.

Business: Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) his Cabinet colleagues, (b) business leaders and (c) civil society organisations on the Government's National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Margot James: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is committed to the Government’s approach on business and human rights and the Department jointly leads with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the UK’s National Action Plan. Together we drive cross-Government delivery of its commitments through an official-level steering group.Ministers and officials from this Department and across Government have discussions in many contexts with business and civil society organisations, which touch on aspects of the very broad business and human rights agenda, for example, on such matters as labour practices, equality and diversity, health and safety, modern slavery, and more besides.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

South Sudan: Courts

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on progress on the creation of the Hybrid Court in South Sudan.

Rory Stewart: We are deeply concerned about the human rights abuses in South Sudan, especially in the area of sexual violence. The 2015 Peace Agreement mandated the creation of a Hybrid Court in South Sudan for the most serious of crimes. We understand that the African Union has been working on a proposal for such a court and now needs to discuss this with the Government of South Sudan. We urge all parties to accelerate the establishment of the Court. We have jointly led a resolution at the Human Rights Council in Geneva which extended the mandate of the South Sudan Human Rights Commission to gather evidence of crimes for eventual use in a court of law.We continue to urge all sides to show restraint, bring an end to the violence in South Sudan, and return to an inclusive and peaceful political process.

Chevening: Grants

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what grant in aid was awarded to the trustees of Chevening in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: None.

Syria: Military Intervention

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which governing entity or entities the Government expects will take control of Raqqa after the removal of Daesh from that city; and what steps the Government is taking to prevent the creation of a political vacuum in that city.

Alistair Burt: Operations to liberate Raqqah City have only just commenced. We are working with our Coalition partners to ensure that once liberated, the population will have inclusive and legitimate local governance that can both protect and represent them.

British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies: Companies

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether all Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies have central registers of beneficial ownership in operation; and what plans he has to make those registers public.

Sir Alan Duncan: The creation of new central registers or similarly effective systems has been completed in all the Crown Dependencies (CDs) and in the following Overseas Territories with financial centres: Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands & Gibraltar, with legislation to underpin the registers passed by their respective legislatures. Data population of the registers with data will be taken forward as a priority in coming months.Guernsey and Alderney's legislation to enable their registers to be operational will be considered by the Privy Council this month.The Turks and Caicos Islands have passed legislation, and their register is expected to be operational by the end of this month.Anguilla has not yet established its register. We continue to engage with the Anguillian authorities to take this forward.

Democracy

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries that are allies of the UK are not governed through some form of parliamentary democracy.

Mark Field: Allies, in a strict legal sense, are those states with whom the UK has a Treaty-based commitment to militarily assist each other in the event of an armed attack. As such I can confirm that all of the UK’s allies are governed by forms of parliamentary or other representative democracy.

1 Carlton Gardens: Operating Costs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the annual running costs of No. 1 Carlton Gardens were in each of the last seven years for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: The annual running costs for 1 Carlton Gardens are shown below:Financial year 2010/11 £751,802Financial year 2011/12 £766,524Financial year 2012/13 £721,231Financial year 2013/14 £740,332Financial year 2014/15 £933,736Financial year 2015/16 £850,099Financial year 2016/17 £984,491The rise between 2013/14 and 2014/15 was due to an increase in annual rent (following a Crown Estates rent review). The rise between 2015/2016 and 2016/17 was primarily due to increased security costs.

Papua: Crimes against Humanity

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the alleged genocide in West Papua.

Mark Field: ​We have received no formal representations on this issue. Nationally we follow the political situation in West Papua closely and raise human rights concerns, wherever we have them, with the Indonesians.

Iraq: Foreign Relations

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met his Iraqi counterpart; and what issues were discussed at that meeting.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary last met the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, on 3 July in London.Their discussions covered; the UK's strong and continuing support for Iraq as it defeats Daesh; the importance of an inclusive political settlement in Mosul and other liberated areas; rebuilding a sense of national identity; the upcoming elections in Iraq; the Kurdish Regional Government's intention to hold a referendum on independence; and progress on the Campaign to Bring Daesh to Justice.

Qatar: Foreign Relations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met his Qatari counterpart; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary met Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatari Foreign Minister, in London on 26 June to relay UK concerns about tensions between Qatar and its neighbours and to reassure him of the UK's willingness to help resolve the situation. The UK continues to call for de-escalation and are firmly behind Kuwait's mediation efforts.

Diplomatic Service: Vacancies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many Ambassadorial posts were vacant on 1 July 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: There were no vacant Ambassadorial roles with no successor appointed on 1 July 2017.

Armenia and Azerbaijan: Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Armenia and (b) Azerbaijan on those states increasing their funding contributions to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Sir Alan Duncan: I have not held bilateral discussions with Armenian or Azerbaijani counterparts about their financial contributions to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The amount each participating State pays to the Organisation is calculated on a scale of assessment. Efforts to amend that scale are ongoing. The UK argues strongly in these discussions that a new scale should be based on the capacity to pay, applying the UN methodology based on Gross National Income (GNI). Adoption of this new scale would result in increased contributions from a number of countries including Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many responses from the Joint Incident Assessment Team to incidents in Yemen referred to it by the Government he has received in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: The Saudi-led Coalition Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) has announced the findings of a total of 21 investigations, with the most recent announced on 2 April 2017.

Idil Eser

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Turkish Government on the detention of Idil Eser, the Director of Amnesty International, in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are concerned by the recent arrests of Amnesty staff in Turkey, and the Prime Minister raised the case of Idil Eser with President Erdogan at the recent G20 summit. We continue to encourage Turkey to work towards the full protection of fundamental rights, particularly in the area of freedom of expression.

Mexico: Foreign Relations

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met his Mexican counterpart; and what issues were discussed at that meeting.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary met the Mexican Foreign Minister, Dr Luis Videgaray, at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Bonn on 16 February. Discussions focused on the strength of the UK-Mexico relationship, including future high-level visits. I met the Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister on 6 April during his visit to London. We discussed the UK's triggering of Article 50 and UK-Mexico relations.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 4 April 2017 to Question 69434 and pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 3308, on Yemen: military intervention, whether he is conducting any further investigations on where that helicopter was made; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We have encouraged the Saudi-led Coalition to investigate this incident and publish the findings. The Saudis have their own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail of how they investigate such incidents of concern on 31 January 2016.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The average number of bids received per Crown Commercial Service procurement project is set out in the following table:YearAverage number of bids2013-14752014-15142015-16822016-1785 Information is not available prior to 2013-14.

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Since January 2011, details of Cabinet Office contracts are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Iron and Steel: Procurement

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 3 November 2016 to Question 50641, the Answers of 4 November 2016 to Questions 50626, 50627, 50632 and 50636, the Answer of 8 November 2016 to Question 50633 and the Answer of 17 November 2016 to Question 50639, if he will make it his policy to record information on the level of British steel procured by each Government Department.

Caroline Nokes: Last December, the Government issued updated guidance to central government departments on how to ensure that they take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities; and extended this guidance to the wider public sector. Since publication of the guidance, the Government has been working closely with departments to monitor the impact and effectiveness of the guidance. Further work is ongoing to test the accuracy of the figures and therefore we are not in a position to publish the data publicly.The Government also published its indicative future steel requirements to 2020 in December, to enable UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for government contracts:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-1116-procuring-steel-in-major-projects-revised-guidance

Crown Commercial Service: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many contracts put out to tender by the Crown Commercial Service have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The following table sets out the number of Crown Commercial Service procurement projects that have been cancelled before completion and subsequently re-tendered:YearCancelledRe-tendered2013-14102014-15112015-16222016-1710 Information is not available prior to 2013-14.

Public Sector: Vale of Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of people in Vale of Clwyd constituency worked in the public sector in each year for which data is available.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to PQ3943
(PDF Document, 89.93 KB)

Electoral Register: Vale of Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many 18 to 25-year olds in Vale of Clwyd constituency were recorded (a) in the latest census estimate and (b) on the electoral register.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to PQ3944
(PDF Document, 119.13 KB)

Iron and Steel: Procurement

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will develop a kite mark type certification system incorporating social and environmental standards for Government procurement of UK steel.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has issued guidance on how to ensure that public sector purchasers take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities. This includes guidance on the application of social and environmental issues:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-1116-procuring-steel-in-major-projects-revised-guidance We have invited the UK steel sector to use the opportunity of a sector deal, through the Government’s Industrial Strategy, to set out its plans to capture future opportunities and deliver long-term growth, and we will actively consider any proposals forthcoming.

Official Residences

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will provide a list of ministerial residences and their authorised occupants.

Chris Skidmore: Official residences are assigned to ministers at the discretion of the Prime Minister, either on the grounds of security or to allow them to better perform their official duties. The current allocations are as follows: the Prime Minister has No 11 Downing Street; the Chancellor has No 10 Downing Street and the Foreign Secretary has No 1 Carlton Gardens. The flats in Admiralty House are not occupied. In addition, the Prime Minister has use of Chequers, the Chancellor has use of Dorneywood; the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has use of Hillsborough Castle and the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for International Trade and the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union have joint use of Chevening.

Cabinet Office: Annual Reports

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17.

Caroline Nokes: The Cabinet Office 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts will be published in due course.

Chequers: Grants

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what grant in aid was awarded to the trustees of Chequers in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Chris Skidmore: Grant in aid payments to the Chequers Trust are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

National Cyber Security Centre

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what ways the National Cyber Security Centre interacts with Government Departments; and whether that Centre meets regularly with those Departments.

Caroline Nokes: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) regularly works with Government Departments and agencies to provide authoritative and coherent advice on how to protect their networks and manage the cyber risks to the data they hold. The NCSC has dedicated engagement teams which cover all economic sectors and departments. The NCSC draws on these relationships when coordinating the government’s response to national level cyber security incidents.

National Cyber Security Centre

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the National Cyber Security Centre has to help universities (a) fight organised cyber-crime and (b) further prevent a cyber-attack.

Caroline Nokes: We launched our five year National Cyber Security Strategy in 2016 to ensure that the UK has the right capability and capacity to defend our people, businesses, and assets; deter our adversaries; and develop the skills and capabilities we need across all sectors. The NCSC regularly publishes advice and guidance for securing organisations’ networks operating in the UK, including universities, and it works closely with law enforcement partners to tackle all forms of cyber-crime.

National Cyber Security Centre

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that regular reviews of the National Cyber Security Centre take place and the outcomes of those reviews are placed in the Library.

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to measure the effectiveness of the National Cyber Security Centre; and whether any targets have been set by his Department.

Caroline Nokes: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reports quarterly to the Cyber and Government Security Directorate (CGSD) of the Cabinet Office on the delivery of its objectives against the National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS). CGSD manages the five-year National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), and sets policy for Government.

Cybercrime: Third Sector

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the National Crime Agency, the National Cyber Security Centre and other relevant agencies are identifying and helping to address the cyber security vulnerabilities of third sector health providers.

Caroline Nokes: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has a key objective to understand the cyber security environment, share knowledge, and use that expertise to identify and address systematic vulnerabilities. The NCSC provides guidance to organisations on how to protect themselves from cyber attack, and CareCERT was established in 2015 to provide national cyber support services for the health and care system. It is delivered by NHS Digital, working with the NCSC. The National Crime Agency (NCA) leads the law enforcement response to cyber crime, including the recent 'WannaCry' cyber attacks, working with NCSC and partners across Policing to identify cyber criminals and bring them to justice.

Electronic Voting

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will introduce a trial of electronic voting in a pilot area with a view to avoiding delays occurred by manual counting of ballot papers; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: There are no plans to trial electronic voting. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-Voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. The Government has stated in its manifesto that it will retain the traditional method of voting by pencil and paper, and tackle every aspect of electoral fraud.

Government Departments: Procurement

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of central Government purchasing has come from small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: Information on Central Government spend for 2013-14 and 2014-15 can be found online:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2014-to-2015 This shows that in 2014-15, Central Government spent over £12 billion (27.1%) with small and medium sized businesses, indicating a continued year on year increase in SMEs winning public procurements. Data for 2015-16 and 2016-17 will be published in due course.

Public Sector: Ethnic Groups

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay to the release of the Government's race audit of public services on the annual update of that report.

Damian Green: The Government is committed to publishing the findings of the Race Disparity Audit in Autumn 2017. Once published, the data on the website will be updated as and when new data becomes available.

Self-employed: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of people were self-employed in (a) each parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area of Wales in each year for which figures are available.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to PQ4963
(PDF Document, 186.84 KB)




Tabla to PQ4963
(Excel SpreadSheet, 20.53 KB)

Department for International Development

South Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that humanitarian assistance can be delivered effectively in South Sudan.

Rory Stewart: Working with international partners, the UK Government has been instrumental in agreeing a tougher approach to deliberate restrictions on humanitarian access by the Government of South Sudan, which sets out clearly the consequences of violations against aid workers. We ensure UK Aid is effective by working through a range of UN and international organisations who are experienced in operating in South Sudan, who are able to work across the country, and who can deliver flexibly according to need.The UK continues to provide humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, where half the population is in need. This year we will provide a package of lifesaving support that includes reaching over 500,000 people with food assistance, providing safe drinking water for more than 300,000 people, and providing emergency health services for more than 100,000 people.

Israel: Palestinians

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provides to projects intended to foster coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Alistair Burt: DFID will provide up to £3 million over three years to fund a co-existence or “people-to-people” programme. This UK support will help Israelis and Palestinians work together to achieve tangible improvements in their lives and build understanding between people on both sides of the conflict.

Parasitic Diseases

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on eliminating nematode infections in (a) Africa and (b) the rest of the world.

Alistair Burt: DFID supports the global elimination of the nematode infection Lymphatic Filariasis. DFID funding has meant that the population at risk from this disease in the 10 African countries and 2 Asian countries supported has fallen by over 85% since 2013. The aim is to achieve full elimination in these 12 countries by 2025.

International Citizen Service: Finance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much statutory funding the International Citizen Service programme has received in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The Department for International Development (DfID) provides funding to the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme to enable young people from across Britain and developing countries to take part in international volunteering. Table 1 provides an outline of DfID expenditure on ICS in each of the last five financial years. Table – ICS ExpenditureFinancial yearExpenditure2012-137,399,0002013-1416,927,0002014-1524,443,0002015-1626,263,0002016-1725,166,000

International Citizen Service: Young People

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many 18 to 25-year-olds took part in the International Citizens Service programme in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The International Citizen Service (ICS) provides opportunities for young people from across Britain and developing countries to take part in international volunteering. Table 1 shows how many participants have taken part in ICS in each of the last five years. It also includes the split between British volunteers and those from developing countries. Table 1 – ICS ParticipantsYearBritish volunteersDeveloping country volunteersYearly total20125013928932013202313543377201429182693561120153627353271592016321132066417

Department for Education

Teachers: Pay

Alex Burghart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of increasing teachers' pay in line with inflation over the course of the current Parliament.

Nick Gibb: Teachers’ pay is based on recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (SRTB).The SRTB, which reports to the Secretary of State on an annual basis, considers evidence from a range of stakeholders before making their recommendations. As stated in the Written Ministerial Statement on 10 July 2017 the Secretary of State has accepted the STRB’s recommendations for this year subject to the consultation, which commenced on 10 July 2017 and closes on 28 July 2017. When the consultation is complete the final School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document for 2017-18 will be published.

Teachers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the schools budget has been spent on teaching staff in each of the last seven years.

Nick Gibb: Academies and local authority maintained schools report expenditure on a different basis: maintained schools on a financial year basis (April to March) and academy schools on an academic year basis (September to August). Data is gathered through two different collections and published through two different statistical first releases. The tables below summarise expenditure on teaching staff as a percentage of the whole.Local Authority and maintained schools 2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Teaching staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure53%53%51%50%48%46%46%Education Support Staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure14%14%15%16%16%17%17%Non-Teaching staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure10%9%9%9%9%9%9%https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data Academies 2011 / 122012 / 132013 / 142014 / 15Teaching staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure 53%50%49%49%Education Support Staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure11%11%12%12%Non Teaching staff expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure13%11%11%11%https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/541051/SFR27_2016_Main_Text.pdfThe Government will continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. To help schools make the best use of their funding, the Department has published practical guidance and tools on workforce planning, financial management, benchmarking, and buying for schools which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.Among these, the School Workforce Planning Guidance supports schools in reviewing their staff structures and recommends that schools plan their staffing over three to five years and, in doing so, ensure their teaching staff are being deployed in the most effective and efficient way. This guidance can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-planning.

Department for Education: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral Answer of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what steps her Department has taken to use 2011 census classifications, including on Gypsies and Travellers, to audit racial disparities in public service outcomes.

Nick Gibb: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 12 July 2017.The correct answer should have been:

I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by my Right Honourable Friend, the member for Ashford in response to PQ 3079. 3709.

Nick Gibb: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by my Right Honourable Friend, the member for Ashford in response to PQ 3079. 3709.

Department for Education: Advertising

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on advertising on social media in each month since January 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government has a duty to provide the public with information and to ensure the effective running and uptake of public services. Social media offers a cost effective and targeted communication tool to achieve this. The majority of social media spend over the last 18 months has been in support of teacher recruitment. Since September 2016 (when the new teacher recruitment campaign launched), social media advertising has generated 19,000 registrations of interest in teaching. We have also used social media to support uptake of 30 hours free childcare and to encourage the reporting of child abuse. Each month the department publishes spend over £25,000 on gov.uk. Below we have summarised the spend on social media. DateSpendJanuary 2016£76,298February 2016£87,263March 2016£66,994April 2016£94,652May 2016£67,011June 2016£33,843July 2016£26,633August 2016£36,399September 2016£12,261October 2016£65,870November 2016£84,448December 2016£86,184January 2017£79,001February 2017£109,685March 2017£163,904April 2017£53,013May 2017£88,963June 2017£92,495

Home Education

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children, by age, are home-schooled in each (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Data on numbers of children educated at home are not collected by the Department for Education.

Academies: Closures

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which academies have closed in England since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There are now 6925 academies, including 432 free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges, which will provide over 230, 000 new school places when they reach capacity. Since 2010, 23 academies (0.3%) have closed permanently:1Manchester Alternative Provision AcademyAcademy2Marlow AcademyAcademy3Oasis Academy HextableAcademy4Weston AcademyAcademy5Discovery New SchoolFree school6Dawes Lane AcademyFree school7Southwark Free SchoolFree school8St Michael's Secondary SchoolFree school9Stockport Technical SchoolFree school10The Durham Free SchoolFree school11Bradford Studio SchoolStudio school12Create Studio SchoolStudio school13Hyndburn Studio SchoolStudio school14Inspire Enterprise AcademyStudio school15Kajans Hospitality & Catering Studio SchoolStudio school16Tendring Enterprise Studio SchoolStudio school17The Hull Studio SchoolStudio school18The Midland Studio College HinckleyStudio school19The Midland Studio College NuneatonStudio school20The Studio School LutonStudio school21Black Country UTCUTC22Central Bedfordshire UTCUTC23Hackney University Technical CollegeUTC

Curriculum

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with (a) cultural and (b) scientific institutions on the introduction of a new curriculum fund.

Nick Gibb: We want all children, regardless of their background, to benefit from a high quality education that provides them with the knowledge they need to succeed in modern Britain.We want to ensure that all teachers have appropriate support to help them deliver this knowledge rich curriculum. To date, the Secretary of State has not had discussions with cultural or scientific institutions about the fund. We will provide further details about the curriculum fund in due course.

Graduates: Average Earnings

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the average salary for a graduate from a Russell group university.

Joseph Johnson: The Government recently published data from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset on graduate earnings up to 5 years after graduation. The data are available for each university split by degree subject studied and can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-for-all-subjects-by-university. Average earnings were not published for each institution as a whole as the overall earnings for an institution would be strongly influenced by the subject mix offered. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) have published an estimate of earnings based on a survey of graduates three and a half years after graduation. The median salary of Russell Group leavers was £29,500. The data can be found here:https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications/long-destinations-2010-11.

Graduates: Employment

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of jobs in the UK economy that will require a degree level education in the next 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: The 2016 UKCES Working Futures publication estimates that 14.9 million jobs will become vacant between 2014 and 2024, and nearly half of these (47 per cent) will be in the occupations most likely to employ graduates (SOC 1-3; Managers, professionals and associate professionals).

Teachers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teach second teachers there are in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.

Nick Gibb: There is no programme called “teach second”; therefore, we are unable to provide any data.Teach First do however recruit career changers and young professionals into teaching. This group made up 27% of the 2016 cohort of trainees.

Graduates: Average Earnings

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the average salary for a university graduate; and what that figure is for people who did not attend university.

Joseph Johnson: The Government regularly publishes information on graduate employment trends through its ‘Graduate Labour Market Statistics’ publication, which can be found on the gov.uk website; https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/graduate-labour-market-quarterly-statistics.According to the most recent publication, in 2016 the median salary for graduates was £32,000. This compares to a median salary of £22,500 for non-graduates.

Schools: Standards

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were in good or outstanding schools in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton in each of the last seven years for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The table in the attachment shows the number and percentage of pupils currently in good or outstanding schools in schools by previous Ofsted judgement.  



% currently in good or outstanding schools
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.89 KB)

Teachers: STEM Subjects

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many STEM teachers there are in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.

Nick Gibb: In November 2016, the latest information available, there were an estimated 130,600 teachers teaching STEM subjects in state funded secondary schools in England. This represents 58% of all secondary school teachers.The numbers of teachers teaching each subject in secondary schools are estimated using data provided by secondary schools to the annual School Workforce Census. Typically, the census receives data for over 70% of secondary school teachers. This sample data is then weighted and grossed up so that nationally representative figures can be produced. Due to the sample nature of the data received, regional and local estimates are not produced.

Teachers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teach first teachers there are in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.

Nick Gibb: Teach First have advised there are currently the following numbers of Teach First teachers in England, the South East and Southampton: Number of Teach First teachersEngland5716South East432Southampton32

Teachers

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the proposed school funding formula on the number of teaching posts in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with headteachers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside local authority area and (c) Gateshead local authority area on (i) school funding and (ii) the effect of the new school funding formula on schools in those areas.

Nick Gibb: Officials from the Department have met with head teachers from across the country to discuss school funding, as part of our consultation on a schools and high needs national formulae. We received over 25,000 responses to the consultation. We are grateful to all those who expressed their views on school funding and the proposed formula as part of this process. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course. The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010 and will be £41bn in 2017-18. We recognise, nevertheless, that schools are facing cost pressures and we will continue to provide support to help them use their funding in cost effective ways. This includes tools, information and guidance to support improved financial health and efficiency in schools, including School Workforce Planning Guidance to help schools make well-informed decisions about their staff structures. These can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.

Department for Education: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many contracts put out to tender by her Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry but this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of public procurement contracts her Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry but this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by her Department was in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry but this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Carers: Children and Young People

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support through the NHS, social care and voluntary sector her Department provides for child and young person carers helping parents with chronic and terminal illness.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government has changed the law to improve how young carers and their families are identified and supported. The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to identify and assess the needs of all young carers, regardless of who they care for or what type of care they provide. These provisions work alongside those for assessing adults in the Care Act 2014 so that when a young carer is identified the needs of everyone in the family is considered, triggering action from both children’s and adults’ support services. We funded the Making a Step Change project, which sought to identify, champion and embed best practice around effective integrated whole family pathways between voluntary and statutory sector partners. In May 2014, NHS England published the ‘Commitment to Carers’ which set out commitments across a range of themes to improve recognition and support for carers, including young carers. As part of NHS England’s work to support young carers, the Young Carers Health Champion Programme was established in July 2016 to support improved health literacy, promote health and wellbeing and develop the capacity of young carers to participate in the planning and development of young carer-friendly services. There is a wealth of resources that enable local authorities, schools and voluntary sector partners to support young carers and their families, based on evidence of what works. Carers Trust host many of these materials on their websites which can be accessed at either: www.thecarershub.co.uk or: www.makingastepchange.info/.

Overseas Students: Fees and Charges and Loans

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the amount of student (a) fees not paid and (b) loans not repaid by foreign students from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries was in each of the last five years.

Joseph Johnson: Statistics covering English student loans are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx Eligibility for student finance is based on residency prior to studying; students resident in non-EU countries prior to studying are typically not eligible for English student support. Information on student loans held at the end of each financial year by borrowers domiciled in England and the EU prior to studying can be found in Table 1 of the SFR. The latest statistics show that at the end of the financial year 2016-17, around £89.3 billion was outstanding in higher education loans, of which £1.7 billion (1.9%) was held by EU domiciled borrowers.

Home Education

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were home-schooled in each (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency by age for (i) the most recent period for which figures are available and (ii) each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but data on numbers of children educated at home are not collected by the Department for Education.

Pupil Exclusions: Alternative Education

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are registered in independent (a) enrolled and (b) offsite alternative education provided for excluded young people more than one day a week in each (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency for (A) the most recent period for which figures are available and (B) each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the Department does not hold the information you have requested. The Department only holds data on the number of pupils in independent alternative provision (AP) that have been commissioned by local authorities. This is available in the Schools, Pupils and their characteristics Statistical First Release which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.

Students: Loans

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of student loans have been repaid in full (a) since the new system was introduced and (b) from the establishment of the original scheme.

Joseph Johnson: Statistics covering English student loans are published annually by the Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’.http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/full-catalogue-of-official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx The number and proportion of higher education income contingent repayment (ICR) student loan borrowers who have fully repaid their loan as at April 2017 can be found in table 3A of the SFR. These statistics are available by year of entry into repayment, rather than by type of loan. Student loan borrowers typically enter repayment in the April after they leave their course, however borrowers with loans under the post-2012 student loan arrangements only started to enter repayment in 2016. At this point in time, post-2012 loan borrowers are at a very early stage of repayment, and so a direct comparison with pre-2012 loan borrowers is not possible. Students entering higher education prior to the academic year 1998/99 were eligible for mortgage style loans to cover the cost of their studies.

GCSE

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were required to re-sit their (a) English and (b) mathematics GCSE exams in the latest academic year for which information is available.

Nick Gibb: The latest information available is for the academic year 2015/16 which is published in table 15a and 15b as part of the “A level and other 16-18 results: 2015 to 2016 (revised)” statistical first release (SFR).[1] [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2015-to-2016-revised (“English and Maths tables: SFR05/2017” document, table 15a and 15b)

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of the funding for new free schools and new selective schools allocated for future financial years will be made available to the Department for Education; and for what purposes that funding will be allocated.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member to the Statement made by my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education on 17 July 2017.

Higher Education: Staff

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has been made of the effect of changes in immigration policy on levels of university recruitment.

Joseph Johnson: Numbers of international students studying at UK universities are at record highs - over 170,000 entrants to UK higher education institutions for the sixth year running. The latest Home Office visa data also shows that, since 2011, university-sponsored visa applications have risen by around 11 per cent. The Government fully recognises the important contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education sector, both economically and culturally. There remains no limit to the number of international students who can come to the UK to study.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2017 to Question 3430, how much of the £100 million made available to create new childcare places has been allocated to local authorities; what the breakdown of that funding is; and how many such places have been created by each local authority.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The department made £100 million available through the Early Years Capital Fund, which was a bid round committed to creating new 30 hours places and was open to local authorities, working in partnership with providers in their area. We published outcomes from this bid round in two waves in January and April 2017. A full list of the projects which were successful can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-capital-fund-2017 . We will publish a breakdown of individual project amounts in due course as to do so now would inhibit local authorities’ negotiations with suppliers and their ability to secure value for money. The bid round invited applications from local authorities for projects which will create places from September 2017.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans take between now and the August 2017 deadline for applications to promote the 30 free hours of childcare policy, encourage eligible parents to apply and make parents aware of that application process.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In March 2017 the Childcare Choices website was launched, which is dedicated to helping parents understand the various government childcare offers available, including 30 hours free childcare and signposting them to register for email alerts when they can apply. As part of our launch activity, the Department for Education and HMRC promoted Childcare Choices via their social media channels. To date, Childcare Choices has had 812,000 total unique visits.As part of the launch all local authorities were emailed a partnership toolkit, which provides communications assets, for local providers to promote the 30 hours and Tax Free Childcare to parents, including example social media messages and a leaflet illustrating how parents should apply. The Childcare Choices provider page also contains a link to this toolkit, so that providers access it directly to promote the offers to their parents.When the Childcare Service opened to 3 year old applications in April, the Department issued a press notice on gov.uk, which received a high amount of coverage by parent-facing consumer press.Last week the Department wrote to all local authority Directors of Children’s Services highlighting the importance of good communications with parents in this run up to September 2017. This letter reminds local authorities to encourage parents to visit the Childcare Choices website and apply online through the online Childcare Service. Parents who have registered their interest via Childcare Choices will receive direct alerts when they can apply.I hope the Urgent Question on 18 July 2017 gives rise to further publicity in the media.The Department for Education continues to work closely with local authorities through our contractor Childcare Works to ensure parents in local areas are aware of the offer and the application process through the Childcare Service.

Home Education

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children of each age were home-schooled in each local authority and parliamentary constituency in (a) 2009-10 and (b) the most recent year for which data is available; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Data on numbers of children educated at home are not collected by the Department for Education.

Pre-school Education: Southwark

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds in each of the last seven years; and how much funding is being made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The early years funding allocation for three and four year olds for Southwark local authority can be found here for the following financial years:2013-14: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-20142014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-20152015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-20162016-17 (provisional allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-20172017-18 – First year under Early Years National Funding Formula (initial allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018Prior to 2013-14, early years’ local authority funding allocations were not separately identified within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Instead, they were part of the total DSG allocated to each local authority. Early years allocations prior to 2013-14 are not therefore available.Funding allocations for 2018-19 and 2019-20 will be announced in due course.

Pre-school Education: Southwark

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years; and how many local authority maintained nursery places will be available for three and four-year-olds in the London Borough of Southwark under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The department does not hold data on the number of council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years.The department does have data showing the number of three and four-year-olds in Southwark taking up their entitlement to funded early learning in a nursery as recorded in January 2017 is available in table 2LA in the main tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2017. The data from 2010 to 2016 can be found in the Provision for children under 5 years of age in England tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide the required number of places to meet parental demand for the free entitlements for two, three and four-year-olds. Local authorities will be working with providers to ensure that there are enough places to meet parental demand in the next three years.

Pre-school Education

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many maintained nursery schools there were in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Table 2a of “Schools, Pupils and Their Characteristics January 2017” sets out the number of maintained nursery schools in each year from 2003 to 2017. 2017 is the most recent period for which figures are available: These figures are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.

Apprentices: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce data collection that would allow people undertaking apprenticeships to declare a mental health problem.

Anne Milton: The department collects data that allows people undertaking apprenticeships to declare a mental health problem through the Individualised Learner Record.We will be conducting a survey in early 2018 with 15,000 people currently undertaking further education or an apprenticeship, which will ask whether they have a physical or mental health condition.

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for teachers who qualified in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Nick Gibb: The retention rates for teachers who qualified in each year from 2005 to 2010 are publicly available in Table 8 of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of her Department's budget for 16-to-19 education was not spent on education for that age group in each of the (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17 financial years.

Anne Milton: Budgets for 16 to 19-year-old education are set on the basis of the established 16 to 19 funding rates and formula, using estimates of student numbers. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, student numbers and associated costs were lower than these estimates, which resulted in lower spending than the forecast, by £135m and £132m respectively, representing 2.2% of the budget. Final expenditure is not yet available for 2016-17 and will be published in the Education and Skills Funding Agency accounts shortly.

Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) current annual budget is of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and (b) the anticipated budget for the 2018-19 financial year.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many permanent staff are employed by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

Anne Milton: The budget for the Institute for Apprenticeships for 2017-18 is £9,656,000. The department has yet to agree a budget for the Institute for 2018-19 financial year. The Institute employs 87.5 full-time equivalent permanent staff.

Nascot Lawn Respite Service

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the closure of Nascot Lawn Health Centre on the provision of short break facilities in Hertfordshire for disabled children with complex health needs; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government recognises the great value of short breaks, which provide a valuable range of opportunities for disabled children and their families, and that all possible steps should be taken to reduce the impact that services ending has on disabled children and their families. Since 2011, local authorities have been under a duty to provide a range of short breaks services and to publish a local short breaks services statement showing what services are available, and how they can be accessed. We recognise the value of local authorities working with partners wherever possible to support and expand short breaks provision. Clinical commissioning groups have a responsibility under section 3 of the NHS Act 2006 to commission health services to meet the needs of their population, including those of the children and young people for whom they are responsible, to a reasonable extent. The Mandate on which NHS England operates also includes the expectation that the NHS will reduce the health gap between people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and autism and the population as a whole, and support them to live full, healthy and independent lives. To support local authorities in meeting their duties, we made available £800 million in grants between April 2011 and March 2015, plus £80m of capital funding to support new projects. Responsibility for short breaks provision rests with local authorities, but the Department for Education has offered support and challenge to help make sure they meet their statutory requirements, have funded innovative grants that promote best practice for delivering services, and continue to consider how we can best support local authorities who are working to deliver sustainable short breaks provision. The Government is able to oversee how much local authorities have planned to spend on short breaks provision through authorities’ annual section 251 returns. In Hertfordshire local authority spending on short breaks for disabled children increased between 2014/15 and 2015/16 (the latest figures available), from £5,563,492 to £6,105,010.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The department is unable to answer this question as the cost of obtaining the information would be disproportionate.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice has awarded the following percentage of contracts through framework agreements in each year since 2010. Year%201011.07201142.74201242.35201366.20201458.33201576.81201676.20201779.25

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: We are unable to provide the data from March 2010 until October 2015, as the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. However, under our new procurement tool, with better reporting capabilities, the information is readily available. The following is the average number of bidders for each completed sourcing event since November 2015 until July 2017 for the Ministry of Justice. Financial yearAverage number of bidders2015/2016 (from November 2015)1.662016/172.082017//18 (up to July 2017)1.50

Ministry of Justice: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the contribution from the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what work is being done to progress work to distinguish Gypsies and Travellers using 2011 census classifications in his Department.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral Answer of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what steps his Department has taken to use 2011 census classifications, including on Gypsies and Travellers, to audit racial disparities in public service outcomes.

Dr Phillip Lee: This government is committed to accurate monitoring of ethnicity across the justice system, including those who identify as Gypsies or Travellers. The department has complied fully with the requirements of the Racial Disparity Audit and looked to provide data using the 2011 census classifications where able to do so. The Racial Disparity Audit is due to be published later this year. In addition, The Rt Hon David Lammy MP was appointed last year to conduct an independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System. As such, Gypsies and Travellers are within the scope of this Review and are being considered as part of his findings. David Lammy’s final report is due to be published this Autumn. The Race Disparity Audit will publish Government data about ethnicity. The data will show the ethnic classifications available for each dataset covered, including where available Gypsies and Travellers.

Berwyn Prison

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when  he expects HM Prison Berwyn to be operating at full capacity.

Mr Sam Gyimah: HMP Berwyn continues to ramp up its capacity. As of Friday 7 July HMP Berywn held 426 offenders and is due to reach full occupancy in Summer 2018.

Berwyn Prison

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that Category C male prisoners from North Wales are considered for transfer to HM Prison Berwyn.

Mr Sam Gyimah: When fully operational in 2018, HMP Berwyn will provide an initial point of custody for North Wales prisoners. Following sentence, men from North Wales will remain at HMP Berwyn unless the prison is unable to meet their offender management needs. In this way HMP Berwyn will become the default prison for men from North Wales unless their needs can be better met elsewhere. Men from North Wales1 currently serving their sentences in other prisons, will also be considered for transfer to HMP Berwyn if the prison can meet their needs and the prisoner meets the acceptance criteria. 1 This will be based on their home address on reception into custody. If no address is given, then an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.

Prisons and Young Offender Institutions: Mental Health Services

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) psychiatrists and (b) psychologists are employed in prison and young offender institutions.

Dr Phillip Lee: As at 31 March 2017, there were 655 full-time equivalent psychologists working in prison establishments (including young offender institutions) across England and Wales. Psychiatrists are employed as part of the NHS health service provision to prisoners, commissioned by NHS England and by the NHS in Wales. Prisons work closely with NHS services to enable access to high quality care in prisons.

Prisons: Staff

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of how many staff are employed in a 1,300-capacity category C prison (a) directly and (b) in the supply chain.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The following are the current 1,300-capacity category C prisons:HM Prison OakwoodHM Prison NorthumberlandHM Prison and Young Offender Institution ParcHM Prison HighpointLatest figures on the number of staff directly employed at HMP Highpoint (which is a public sector prison) can be found in HM Prison and Probation Service annual workforce statistics bulletin in table 12 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/614643/noms-workforce-tables-march-2017.xlsx. Latest figures on the number of staff employed at HM Prison Oakwood, and HM Prison Northumberland (which are privately operated prisons) are as follows: Full-time equivalent staff in post, June 2017HM Prison Oakwood504.4HM Prison Northumberland429.2HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Parc682.1We do not hold figures on the number of staff employed as part of a supply chain.

Prisoners' Transfers: Offender Assessment System

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been transferred between prisons who have (a) completed and (b) incomplete OASys in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Information requested is not held centrally.

Prisoners' Transfers: Offender Assessment System

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will launch a review into the process of, and arrangement for, sentence planning to ensure that prisoners transferring from other prisons arrive with a complete and up to date OASys.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The review of Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) has included a review of OASys and sentence planning arrangements. The new Offender Management in Custody model considers and addresses the issues which prisons currently face around completing OASys reports. The new model will move the resource for OASys report completion into the training / resettlement estate and away from local / reception prisons. The model also introduces a new role of Prison Offender Managers, who will be based in the prison. These Prison Offender Manager posts will be held by a combination of band 4 prison staff and NPS Probation Officers. Roll out of the new OM model has commenced within the 10 pathfinder sites and HMP Berwyn. We are currently working through the roll out schedule into the wider estate, but the new OM model will be in place in all Closed prisons by March 2019.

Prisons: Staff

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on Offender Management Unit staff in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not record expenditure in its central accounting system in a format that allows for the identification of spend on Offender Management Unit staff and therefore, cannot provide data for the period requested.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost was of contracts tendered out for prison maintenance by (a) prison and (b) private sector service provider in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: It is right that prison repair work is carried out in a timely and effective manner to ensure public protection. We always work to ensure we achieve value for money for the taxpayer and keep our costs under review. The most recent applicable data available for the period requested is from 2012, when Mitie Care and Custody Ltd took over the provision of facilities management (FM) at HMP Brixton, later expanding to cover three sites. Until June 2015, FM services at the rest of the public-sector prison estate was delivered in-house by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). Since then, it has been delivered by Amey Community Ltd and Carillion Plc.Below is a breakdown of the applicable tendered fixed costs for each of the three private sector service providers broken down by year as requested. These contracts were tendered on a ‘lot’ basis and as such costs are not broken down by establishment. The number of establishments/sites within each package has been included below for completeness:Custodial Facilities Management: Tendered Fixed Costs (Excludes Indexation and variable works)Year201220132014201520162017TotalMitie Care and Custody   Lot C: Various: 3 Sites£2,189,000£2,810,000£2,843,000£3,055,000£3,500,000£3,529,000£10,084,000Amey Community Limited   From June 2015   Lot E: North East, North West, Yorkshire Humberside: 34 SitesN/AN/AN/A£11,780,000£23,560,000£23,560,000£58,900,000Lot F: East Midlands, West Midlands and Wales: 27 SitesN/AN/AN/A£9,340,000£18,680,000£18,680,000£46,700,000Carillion PLC   From June 2015   Lot G: South West, South Central, Kent & Sussex: 32 SitesN/AN/AN/A£9,880,000£19,760,000£19,760,000£49,400,000Lot H: Greater London and East of England: 22 SitesN/AN/AN/A£10,020,000£20,040,000£20,040,000£50,100,000Totals:£2,189,000£2,810,000£2,843,000£44,075,000£85,540,000£85,569,000£215,184,000

Prisoners: ICT

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners (a) requested and (b) were granted access to laptop computer facilities in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidelines his Department has produced for prisons on Access to Justice on (a) how and when computers can be accessed by prisoners and (b) for how long and what actions and tasks can be undertaken.

Mr Sam Gyimah: All prisoners are able to request access to IT for legal purposes. However, there is a clear need to balance the need to access electronic legal information with the risk that some prisoners may seek to use IT for illicit or criminal purposes. Therefore, prisoners are only provided with IT equipment where there is a clear and genuine need, and where not to do so would raise a real risk of prejudicing the legal proceedings. Where such a requirement is clear, a prisoner can be provided with IT for the sole specified purpose of considering digital evidence. The IT can be made available for as long as the requirement to use it remains, up to the conclusion of the relevant legal proceedings.There is currently no national guidance on the process for access to digital evidence (formerly access to justice). Local procedures for assessing access to digital evidence have been developed in collaboration with the High Security and Long Term Estate and the Directorate of Security, Order and Counter Terrorism Guidance on the procedures for applying for, and receiving, access to digital evidence will be published for prison staff and prisoners this year. Information on the number of applications made and approved for access to digital evidence is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Equality

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have dedicated equalities departments.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Prison Governors are responsible for identifying a functional head with lead responsibility for coordinating equalities work within the prison, ensuring that there is a coherent approach to equalities obligations. Every prison has been allocated resources for an equality officer and Governors are free to deploy this resource in a way that best meets the needs of their population.

Prisons: Education

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) capacity and (b) attendance was of the prisons education, learning and skills departments in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The education curriculum for each prison in England is agreed locally by the prison governor with their Offender Learning and Skills Service provider and decisions over the available capacity are made locally. Information on the capacity of learning and skills departments in individual prisons is not collected nationally. National data on the total number of offenders aged 18 and over in the prison system participating in learning in England from academic year 2010/11 is published and can be found here (table 10):https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/624613/Further-education-and-skills-July-2017-SFR-27-2017-main-tables_ODS.ods.

Sexual Offences: Rehabilitation

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted sex offenders have (a) started and (b) completed the Sex Offender Treatment Programme; and of those offenders how many are (i) in prison, (ii) released and (iii) in a bail hostel.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Information on the numbers of convicted sex offenders who have (a) started and (b) completed the Sex Offender Treatment Programmes is published annually. The data until 2015/16 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547224/supplementary-tables.zip. Data for the period 2016 / 17 due to be published on 27July 2017. Information on the current locations of former participants in the Core Sex Offender Treatment Programme is held on individual offender files. The information requested could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Sexual Offences: Reoffenders

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of sex offences in category (a) adult: violent/serious rape, sexual assault, (b) adult other: possession and distribution of banned material, (c) child contact: any sexual offence involving direct sexual contact with a victim who is under 16 years old (or under 18 years old in cases of incest, prostitution and abuse of a position of trust), (d) child other: abuse of a position of trust (not involving direct sexual contact) with a victim who is under 16 years old following grooming and other child non-contact offences, (e) child image: creation, possession and distribution of indecent images of a victim under 18 years old, (f) breach of conviction/release conditions related to a sexual offence, (g) prostitution/soliciting involving a victim who is over 18 years old and related offences such as running or promoting a brother, (h) non-sexual violent: violent non-sexual offences, (i) non-sexual non-violent have (i) undertaken the Sex Offender Treatment Programme and (ii) gone on to re-offend in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Segregation of Prisoners

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons undertook at least one segregation monitoring and review meeting in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Segregation Monitoring and Review Group (SMARG) meetings and reports are not held centrally and to obtain the information requested from each prison would incur disproportionate cost.

Courts: Sunderland

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether a decision has been made on the future of Sunderland Court Estate.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central from the former Courts and Justice Minister on 31 March 2017, how much has been spent on extending the put option on the land at Farringdon Row since the contract was first made.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central from the former Courts and Justice Minister on 31 March 2017, on what date and at what time (a) discussions and (b) meetings held between HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (i) Sunderland City Council and (ii) Siglion Developments to discuss a new public sector hub at Keele Square took place in the last 12 months.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central from the former Courts and Justice Minister on 31 March 2017, how much it has cost to extend the put option on the land at Farringdon Row for a further 12 months to March 2018.

Dominic Raab: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is considering options to improve its court and tribunal estate in Sunderland and a decision will be announced in due course. The put option currently runs until March 2019 and enables HMCTS to carefully consider all options before a decision is made. No costs have been paid to Sunderland City Council to extend this option since the contract was made. Officials are in contact with Sunderland City Council and its partners regarding land owned by HMCTS at Farringdon Road to explore the future potential of the land including for the delivery of a public sector hub. HMCTS met with Sunderland City Council and Siglion Developments at noon on 20 December 2016, 11:00 on 15 February 2017 and 10:00 on 21 March 2017.

Courts: Sunderland

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will meet the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central to discuss the future of the Sunderland Court Estate.

Dominic Raab: I would be pleased to meet the hon. Members for Houghton and Sunderland South and Sunderland Central to discuss the future of the court estate in Sunderland. I will ask my office to make appropriate arrangements.

Social Security Benefits: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment appeals there have been in the South East Wales District in each year since 2010; and how many such appeals were successful.

Dr Phillip Lee: The table below contains the requested information.Appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) in South East Wales1 for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)2 and Personal Independence Payment (PIP)3YearBenefit TypeReceiptsClearances at Hearing Found in Favour of Appellant2009-104ESA5486907 PIP00 2010-114ESA62541,809 PIP00 2011-124ESA80872,892 PIP00 2012-134ESA148355,543 PIP00 2013-144ESA71305,545 PIP10~52014-154ESA21831,241 PIP14783112015-164ESA25701,501 PIP26221,7292016-174ESA34131,922 PIP32681,7501 SSCS data are attributed to the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. South East Wales is identified as those appeals which are attributed to the Cardiff, Cwmbran, Langstone, Newport, Llwynypia, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Pontypool, Pontypridd venues. 2 Includes ESA and ESA (Reassessments). 3 PIP replaced Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16 to 64 and rolled out from 8 April 2013. It was trialled in areas of the North of England and gradually rolled out across other regions. As such there were fewer than five appeals cleared in the South East Wales district in 2013-2014..  4 By financial year - from April to March. 5 Denotes appeals types where fewer than five cases were involved and therefore data are statistically unreliable.Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data available. The data are a subset of official statistics extracted from the case management system on a different date.

Immigration: Legal Aid Scheme

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 3597, whether people enforcing their rights (a) through the UK judicial system and (b) contained within the Withdrawal Agreement will be eligible for legal aid.

Dr Phillip Lee: The scope of civil legal aid is set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), which came into force on 1 April 2013. In order for a person to be granted civil legal aid, both their income and capital must be within specified limits as set out in the means test. In addition, their case needs to have a reasonable chance of winning (the merits test). The Government does not currently put any nationality or residence restrictions on accessing civil legal aid. However, under LASPO civil legal aid is generally limited to proceedings taking place in England and Wales.

Coroners

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many coroner's offices have been subject to mergers in each year since 2010.

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many coroner's offices have been closed in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: Since 2010 there have been 23 mergers of coroner areas in England and Wales, reducing the overall number from 116 to 92 coroner areas. It is the Chief Coroner’s aim, which the Government supports, to move, over time, to around 75 coroner areas, each having between 3,000 and 5,000 deaths reported annually. The aimn of this change is to promote consistency and generate efficiencies for local authorities, which fund coroner services. The Ministry of Justice does not have operational responsibility for the coroner services and does not hold information about the number of coroner’s offices that have closed.

Courts: Reform

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made on the court reform programme.

Dominic Raab: Our vision is for a modern and world-renowned justice system that is swifter, more accessible and easier to use for everyone. The modernisation programme is now in its second year and is progressing well. Tax Appeal Online was launched in June and a number of new services are being tested with the public. These include Probate Online and online tracking in the Social Security & Child Support Tribunal. In the magistrates’ court, good progress is being made in developing a simpler way of deciding summary, non-imprisonable offences using streamlined processes and a new digital system.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Official Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Prime Minister, what the cost of hospitality provided to Paul Dacre was at 10 Downing Street on 24 October 2016.

Mrs Theresa May: Costs of hospitality for the Cabinet Office of which, the Prime Minister’s office forms an integral part, is published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts which is available on the gov.uk website. The annual report and accounts for 2016/2017 will be released in due course.

Ruth Davidson

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2017 to Question 1816, how many meetings of (a) her and (b) her predecessor's political cabinet Ruth Davidson MSP was invited to and attended.

Mrs Theresa May: Political meetings are not a matter for the Government.

Andrew Davies

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2017 to Question 1788, how many meetings of (a) her and (b) her predecessor's political cabinet Andrew Davies AM was invited to and attended.

Mrs Theresa May: Political meetings are not a matter for the Government.

Members: Correspondence

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, when she plans to reply to the letter, sent via email, from the hon. Member for West Bromwich East, of 12 June 2017, on the appointment of the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath to the Cabinet.

Mrs Theresa May: A reply has been sent.

Ministry of Defence

South Sudan: Armed Forces

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces are currently working in South Sudan; and what role those people are performing.

Mark Lancaster: The UK currently has nearly 400 Armed Forces personnel deployed in South Sudan. As requested by the United Nations (UN), UK troops have deployed to support the UN Mission in South Sudan by carrying out engineering and medical roles at the UN camps in Malakal and Bentiu. They will work to improve the delivery of the UN mission, and are a demonstration of the UK's commitment to UN operations.

Iron and Steel: Procurement

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that its prime contractors adhere to the Government's procurement practices and guidelines set out for the procurement of UK steel.

Harriett Baldwin: Following implementation of the Government's updated policy guidance on steel procurement, the Ministry of Defence has engaged with its prime defence contractors to ensure their support in adhering to the practices and guidelines set out in the policy.

Military Bases: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the mandated economic and social impact assessment will take place for (a) Imphal Barracks, (b) Towthorpe and (c) Queen Elizabeth Barracks; and when the reports on those assessments will be published.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Due to the estimated timelines for disposal of Imphal in 2031 and Towthorpe and Queen Elizabeth Barracks in 2021, the economic and social assessments will be conducted closer to the estimated date of disposal, to ensure that they are accurate.The primary purpose of the Better Defence Estate strategy is to optimise infrastructure to support military capability and invest in significantly better facilities to support the men and women of our Armed Forces. It enables defence infrastructure that is affordable and enhanced to support the United Kingdom’s defence needs now and in the future.

Ministry of Defence: CarillionAmey

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference it the results of the UK Regular Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey published on 25 May 2017, results showing changes in satisfaction rates for maintenance work and changes in satisfaction rates for response times on maintenance work, what additional steps he is taking to review his Department's contract with Carillion Army.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The National Housing Prime contractor CarillionAmey, with support from the Department, has ensured that performance levels against their Improvement Plan have been met and sustained since May 2016. Ministry of Defence officials continue to work closely with CarillionAmey to monitor and drive further improvements going forward and representatives from both organisations meet fortnightly to review performance.

Army: Job Satisfaction

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 2017 UK Regular Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey Results 2017, published on 25 May 2017, what the reasons are for the fall in morale in the army over the last 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey is key to our understanding of how Service personnel feel about the issues which affect their lives. The results are used by the Defence Board and the Executive Committee of the Army Board to shape and improve evidence-based personnel policies.44% of Officers and 39% of Other Ranks rate their own morale as high and this has been stable for personnel over recent years. We recognise that more remains to be done, and we will continue to strive to ensure that all our Armed Forces personnel feel valued and that their contribution and sacrifice is recognised. This includes through the Armed Forces Covenant and Armed Forces People programme.

Military Bases: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to A Better Defence Estate, published in November 2017 and the proposed closure of Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Strensall and Imphal Barracks in York, what steps he is taking to review the re-basing programme.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Better Defence Estate strategy has been developed using military advice from the Front Line Commands as well as the Chief of Defence People. Its purpose is to optimise infrastructure to support military capability and invest in significantly better facilities to support the men and women of our Armed Forces.All sites announced under the Better Defence Estates Strategy are subject to further assessment studies and an update is due to Parliament in autumn 2017. There are no plans to reconsider the closure of Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Towthorpe and Imphal Barracks.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent reserve centre closures on recruitment to the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: A very small number of Reserve Centres have closed in the recent past. Recruitment into the Reserve Forces is a key consideration when determining the location of Reserve units. We continue to make good progress with Reserves recruitment. In the 12 months to 1 May 2017, 6,570 people joined the Reserves, taking the total strength to 36,310, an increase of 4.1% since 1 May 2016.

Turkey: Military Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent meetings his Department has had with representatives from (a) BAE Systems and (b) Turkish Aerospace Industries on the development of the proposed TFX fighter aircraft.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department meets routinely with representatives of BAE Systems to discuss a range of matters including the TF-X programme. The Department has also held meetings with the Turkish government which have been attended by representatives of Turkish Aerospace Industries when it was appropriate for them to do so.

Aircraft Carriers: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding has been (a) approved and (b) considered for the development of an additional unmanned air systems capability for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which unmanned air systems (UAS) are planned to operate from the Queen Elizabeth class carriers from initial operational capability; and whether he intends to conduct a review of UAS that could be marinised and deployed on those carriers.

Harriett Baldwin: The priorities for integration into the carriers at the initial operating capability in 2020 remain F-35B Lightning, Maritime Force Protection Helicopters (Merlin Mk2 ASW/Crowsnest) and Battlefield Helicopters. With a planned life of around 50 years, we will continue to review the capabilities to be integrated into the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers in line with other Defence investment priorities at the appropriate time.

Defence: Research

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure UK manufacturers will be able to continue to engage with EU defence research and development programmes after the UK has left the EU.

Harriett Baldwin: The exact nature of our future EU relationship will be determined as part of the Brexit negotiations.We are seeking a deep and special partnership with our European partners after we leave the EU, which will encompass both economic and security cooperation. We have the largest European defence budget and we want to continue contributing to the security of Europe, building and enhancing our wider cooperation and using our range of defence and security capabilities, our global standing, and our networks and influence.The UK will continue to have all of the rights and obligations that membership brings, including receiving European funding, up until the point we leave the EU. We recognise that many organisations across the UK which are in receipt of EU funding, or expect to start receiving funding, want reassurance about the flow of funding they will receive. In line with wider commitments to Horizon research funding, funding received from the EU's defence research programme prior to our exit from the EU will be guaranteed after we leave.

Ministry of Defence: Mass Media

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many public engagements for which a media calling notice was issued were attended by a departmental Minister in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Logistic Commodities and Services: Donnington

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the Defence Fulfilment Centre in Donnington to be fully operational.

Harriett Baldwin: It is planned that the Defence Fulfilment Centre will become fully operational in March 2019.

Future Large Aircraft: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to procure A400M aircraft for use by 47 Squadron RAF.

Harriett Baldwin: There are currently no plans for 47 Squadron RAF to operate the A400M.47 Squadron operates C-130J aircraft whose current planned out of service date is 2035.

Boeing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Boeing maximises UK industrial workshare and employment during the delivery of platforms built by that company.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government and Boeing are working closely together on a long-term initiative to advance prosperity in the UK. Ministers from the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are meeting regularly with the company to monitor progress. For example, Boeing and the Government are working together to build a new £100 million P-8A facility at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, creating more than 100 new jobs. Boeing has also announced further investments in the UK, including establishing its first European factory in Sheffield. Furthermore, the Government and Boeing are working with UK suppliers to increase opportunities on future global programmes. This includes a recent event in Seattle aimed at showcasing the capabilities of UK companies to Boeing engineers and supply chain managers. A further event will take place in the autumn.

Defence: Expenditure

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce inflation in defence labour costs.

Harriett Baldwin: Competition remains the main mechanism for delivering value for money in the defence programme. Our policy of agreeing firm prices, or setting an agreed variation of price formula in our contracts to account for inflation, further incentivises contractors to control costs. Where competition is not possible, we work with our large defence contractors to agree labour rates which are considered reasonable for use in single source contracts. The Single Source Contract Regulations, introduced under the Defence Reform Act (2014), provide the Department with enhanced access to information from a supplier on costs, including labour costs, and an option to take disputes to the Single Source Regulations Office for a legally-binding determination.

Armed Forces: Ethnic Groups

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what targets his Department has set for the recruitment of ethnic minorities into the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Armed Forces are working towards a target of 10% of recruits to come from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds by 2020, as announced by the previous Prime Minister prior to the 2015 election.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are currently involved in training operations in support of aerial targeting procedures used by the airforces of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Mark Lancaster: There are currently around 125 Armed Forces personnel based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, delivering the breadth of UK defence engagement with Saudi Arabia. Amongst their many tasks, these personnel deliver training, which we assess helps develop the Saudi-led Coalition's targeting processes and supports their compliance with International Humanitarian Law. During courses, additional personnel either deploy to Saudi Arabia, or provide training in the UK.

Low Flying: Compensation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2017 to Question 3581, how much his Department has paid in compensation to complainants affected by low-flying aircraft in the last six months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Compensation paid by the Ministry of Defence to complainants affected by low-flying aircraft in the last six months is as follows:January – June 2017 inclusive £87,450.99

Falkland Islands: Air Routes

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect that rerouting the South Atlantic air bridge has had on (a) treatment and (b) aeromedical evacuation of his Department's personnel from the Falkland Islands.

Mark Lancaster: When taking the decision to reroute the South Atlantic Airbridge, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) took into account a number of factors to ensure both our operational commitments and the care of our personnel in the Falkland Islands were maintained. The MOD continue to retain a range of options, including aeromedical capability, to ensure that the necessary level of medical care can be provided to our personnel in the South Atlantic.

Middle East: Military Intervention

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on civilian deaths resulting from non-US-coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria.

Mark Lancaster: Our principal concern is that the Syrian regime and their backers are undertaking airstrikes in Syria, but that many of those strikes are not against Daesh, but against forces opposed to the regime. When there have been allegations of civilian casualties - or indeed, when strikes have taken place against humanitarian targets - we see no sign of the regime undertaking any kind of investigation in order to learn lessons. This is in marked contrast to our own approach as part of the Coalition, in which every possible care is taken to minimise the risk of civilian casualties.The Iraqi Air Force conducts air strikes in its own sovereign airspace against Daesh targets; the Iraqis notify the Coalition of their intent to conduct air strikes in an area, in order to ensure deconfliction of air operations.Daesh also conducts limited aerial attacks, against those forces opposed to them, using commercially-available unmanned aerial vehicles.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2017 to Question 3174, how many sonobuoys for use on P-8 aircraft will be delivered to the RAF through the US Government's Foreign Military Sales programme.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign Military Sale case covers the initial provisioning of sonobuoys for the RAF P-8A maritime patrol aircraft. It also provides for further orders to be placed as the initial quantity is used and more aircraft join the RAF fleet.The quantity of sonobuoys required and the rate at which they are used will depend on the number and types of operations in which the aircraft is involved. Therefore, it is not possible to say how many sonobuoys will be delivered through the Foreign Military Sale programme.

Ministry of Defence: Private Sector

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 2552, on Ministry of Defence: Private Sector, how many of the staff referred to in that Answer are now on zero-hours contracts.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not collect data about former employees. The MOD does not employ staff on zero hours contracts.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the contribution from the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what work is being done to progress work to distinguish Gypsies and Travellers using 2011 census classifications in his Department.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by the Right Honourable member for Ashford in response to PQ3079.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the average length of telephone calls it receives from universal credit claimants in areas where the universal credit full digital service is being rolled out.

Damian Hinds: At June 2017, the average duration of telephone calls to the Universal Credit Digital (Full Service) telephone line was 5 minutes and 53 seconds. Notes: Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution. Source: BT - Operational Management Information System (OPMIS)

Employment and Support Allowance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of (a) the cost-effectiveness and (b) resource efficiency of employment and support allowance claimants who have been found fit to work claiming jobseeker's allowance while waiting for the result of a mandatory reconsideration.

Penny Mordaunt: Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) can be claimed when Employment and Support Allowance has stopped, while waiting for a decision on a MR or appeal, subject to JSA normal conditions of entitlement. No separate assessment has been made of the cost effectiveness of JSA for this group.

Employment and Support Allowance: Medical Examinations

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure that the outcome of assessments conducted by his Department on people seeking to claim employment and support allowance are correct and (b) reduce the number of decisions based on such assessments which are overturned on appeal.

Penny Mordaunt: a) To ensure that the outcome of assessments conducted by his Department on people seeking to claim employment and support allowance are correct With regard to the actual Work Capability Assessment (WCA), the Department robustly monitors the performance of the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA). They are independently audited to ensure that the advice provided to the Department’s decision makers is of suitable quality, fully explained, and justified. Assessment reports deemed unacceptable are returned to CHDA for reworking. The Department continues to work extensively with the assessment provider to make improvements to guidance, training and audit procedures in order to ensure that a quality service is maintained. All healthcare professionals delivering assessments for CHDA complete rigorous training before they are allowed to undertake WCAs. The healthcare professionals employed by CHDA are required to complete the agreed elements of Continuing Medical Education, as set out in the contract each year. CHDA undertake continuous review and audit of all healthcare professionals, with clinical mentoring available as required. b) To reduce the number of decisions based on such assessments which are overturned on appeal. Any claimant wishing to dispute a decision made based on their assessment is entitled to do so. The first stage of which is for the Department to conduct a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) whereby a different decision maker undertakes a full review of the case and considers any additional evidence provided. The Department undertakes this review in an attempt to ensure before appeal that our decision is as robust and accurate as possible. However, should the decision remain the same and the claimant still disagree, they can submit an appeal directly with Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). The Department now has Presenting Officers attending 50% of all ESA Appeals at HMCTS ensuring that where the Department believes the decision to be robust and accurate, we are adequately represented. This also enables us to gather significant feedback that will inform the quality of our decision making going forward.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many 0345 telephone numbers his Department operates.

Caroline Dinenage: The department operates 382 ‘0345’ telephone numbers.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) longest and (b) mean waiting times to his Department's (i) universal credit helpline and (ii) 0345 phone lines.

Damian Hinds: The range of average speed of answer to the Universal Credit Live Service, Universal Credit Digital (Full Service) and 0345 telephone lines (excluding Universal Credit) are shown in the table below. Mean average waiting times are not recorded.  Range ShortestRange LongestUniversal Credit - Live Service2 minutes 28 seconds (July 2016)4 minutes 24 seconds (January 2017)Universal Credit Digital (Full Service)1 minute 38 seconds (April 2017)13 minutes 18 seconds (November 2016)All other 0345 Lines (excluding Universal Credit)2 minutes 24 seconds (January 2017)4 minutes 3 seconds (September 2016)  Notes: Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution. Performance variation should be viewed in the context of a wide range of operational impacts occurring; this includes caller demand, system stability, changes to process and adviser capacity. Source: BT - Operational Management Information System (OPMIS)

Mortgages: Tax Allowances

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is the Government's policy that support for mortgage interest will become an interest-bearing loan secured against the mortgaged property from April 2018.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Government's policy from April 2018 will be on support for mortgage interest.

Caroline Dinenage: From 6 April 2018 a new loans-based system of support for mortgage interest will replace the current benefits based provision. Eligible owner-occupier recipients of income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit and Universal Credit will be offered interest-bearing loans that give the same level of protection against repossession as current provision. These loans will be secured against their property and repaid from available equity when the property is sold.

Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the new single financial guidance body will host a pensions dashboard.

Guy Opperman: Pensions Dashboards are an exciting idea and the Government worked with industry to deliver a working prototype of the dashboard in April 2017. However, the development of dashboards is still at a very early stage with many policy questions outstanding, The single financial guidance body is in the early stages of being passed through Parliament so it is too early to determine the entire role of the body.

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time was for calls to (a) the universal credit helpline and (b) his Department's 0345 phone lines in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: The average length of calls to the Universal Credit Live Service and Digital (Full Service) telephone lines, along with the Departments 0345 lines in each of the last 12 months are shown in the tables below. Universal Credit Live ServiceUniversal Credit Digital (Full Service)All other 0345 Lines (excluding Universal Credit)Jul-1607:1305:4804:36Aug-1607:2806:0004:42Sep-1606:3906:3204:42Oct-1607:2306:2704:46Nov-1607:3406:0304:41Dec-1607:3606:0904:45Jan-1707:2806:3804:49Feb-1707:4006:5904:54Mar-1707:2806:5804:55Apr-1707:3607:0204:58May-1707:3506:0805:00Jun-1707:3305:53not available Notes: Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution. Intra-month performance variation should be viewed in the context of a wide range of operational impacts occurring throughout the year, e.g. caller demand, system stability, changes to process, Adviser capacity etc. Source: BT - Operational Management Information System (OPMIS)

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to claimants of an average length call to his Department's 0345 numbers.

Caroline Dinenage: Calls to 0345 numbers incur geographic costing tariffs, so like ‘01’ and ‘02’ numbers are often included within inclusive and free caller packages. Callers whose network provider does not offer these schemes are generally charged at 9p per minute and from mobile phones cost between 3p and 55p to 0345 numbers.Therefore the cost of a call duration of 00:07:30 (h:m:s) could range between 0.23p - £4.13.

Department for Work and Pensions: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral Answer of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what steps his Department has taken to use 2011 census classifications, including on Gypsies and Travellers, to audit racial disparities in public service outcomes.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by the Right Honourable member for Ashford in response to PQ3079.

Means-tested Benefits

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what repayment support is given to claimants who take out a hardship payment.

Caroline Dinenage: I have interpreted your question to refer to Universal Credit Hardship Payments, which are made on the understanding that they are recoverable from the customer. Repayment support is available in several ways when a hardship payment is made. Recovery of a Universal Credit Recoverable Hardship Payment can only start when the claimant’s award is not subject to a sanction or fraud penalty reduction. There are established processes to consider hardship if the proposed rate of repayment cannot be afforded. The claimant will be asked to provide evidence to support their position, for example, bank statements, and details of their income and expenditure. Their financial circumstances can then be taken into account and a possible reduction in repayment considered. Suspension of repayment may also be considered under certain circumstances such as unexpected extra expenditure. As a means to support claimants into work, recovery of a Hardship Payment is suspended for any Assessment Period where the claimant’s earnings at least equal their individual Conditionality Earnings Threshold.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions e-procurement system does not hold accurate data on cancelled or retendered contracts.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the (a) number of telephone calls it receives from universal credit claimants and (b) level of assistance with telephone enquiries needed by claimants in (i) areas where the universal credit full digital service is being rolled out and (ii) other areas.

Damian Hinds: The number of telephone calls from customers in Universal Credit Full Service areas varies from day to day, and will continue to increase as we roll out further. Internal management information captured at the point of call indicates that just over 1% of callers require assistance in getting and staying online. Notes: Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

Poverty: Vale of Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of children were living in poverty in Vale of Clwyd constituency in each year for which data is available.

Caroline Dinenage: National statistics on the number of children in relative low income are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication. The number and proportion of children in relative low income is not available at local authority or constituency level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography. Latest 3-year estimates for Wales of the proportion of children in low income are available in Table 4.16ts in the file “4_children_timeseries_risk” from this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599136/hbai-2015-2016-supporting-ods-files.zip

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Work and Pensions e-procurement system does not presently record whether frameworks are used when procurement exercises are run. To gather this information manually for the time period specified would take several weeks of dedicated activity to complete.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The table below provides detail of the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by the Department for Work and Pensions in each full year since 2010. The data is sourced from the DWP’s e-procurement software platform and is correct as of 11/07/2017. YearAve. No. Bids Received20102201152012220134201442015720164

Employment and Support Allowance: Scotland

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people applying for employment and support allowance in Scotland had to wait more than six weeks to receive their benefit in the last three months.

Penny Mordaunt: The information requested is not readily available. The management information system used to report Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) clearance times only shows data on the average time or the number cleared within 5, 10, 16 or 21 days. The system cannot produce data on cases which had to wait more than 6 weeks to receive their benefit. However ESA claimants are paid an assessment rate of benefit based on a preliminary decision prior to going through the work capability assessment. This means that the majority of claimants receive a decision on their claim with the first 10 working days. From April 17 – June 17 85.2% of claimants have received a decision on their claim within 10 working days.

Self-employed: Income

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average weekly income was for self-employed people in real terms in (a) the UK and (b) Wales in each year for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds: Table 1 (attached): estimated median weekly earnings from self-employment (£) and total weekly income from all sources (£) of all self-employed individuals in the United Kingdom and in Wales from 2002/03 to 2015/16. All monetary amounts are in 2015/16 prices.  



Estimated median weekly earnings 
(Word Document, 53.66 KB)

Social Security Benefits: Homelessness

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the benefit cap in November 2016 on the level of homelessness since that date.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed reduction in the benefit cap to £23,000 per year on the level of homelessness.

Caroline Dinenage: I am replying to both questions as assessments of the effect of the benefit cap are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.  The new, lower, tiered benefit cap was introduced from 7 November 2016. The change reduces the total amount a working-age household can receive in benefits to £20,000 for couples and lone parents (£13,400 for single adults with no children) in Great Britain outside Greater London. Within Greater London the level is £23,000 for couples and lone parents (£15,410 for single adults with no children).Evidence from the 2014 evaluation of the cap showed very little, if any, impact on homelessness as a direct result of the cap. In the cases of a small numbers of capped households who had been evicted, the Local Authorities noted that they had other reasons for rent arrears and they also failed to engage with relevant services, they were considered intentionally homeless. The lower cap is still the equivalent of gross family earnings of £25k, and £29k in London. There are a number of exemptions, for example, for people receiving disability payments or people who work and qualify for Working Tax Credits. Discretionary Housing Payments can be made by local authorities to help people adjust to the benefit cap and those payments can be made to prevent people becoming homeless. To help Local Authorities protect the most vulnerable and to support households adjusting to the reforms, the Government has provided around £900 million funding for the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme since 2011.

Jobcentres: Closures

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of jobcentre and Jobcentre Plus closures on levels of employment.

Damian Hinds: As a large employer we understand the potential impact that any closure or relocation of an office may have. This is why we carefully considered the wider impacts on local communities in reviewing our estate. The sites we intend to keep were identified as part of our longer-term strategy.The increased use of digital services means that many offices are underutilised; meaning that we are spending money on rent for space that is unused rather than on services and support. Our plans seek to redress that. The department is committed to retaining an accessible jobcentre network and continuing to serve customers in all areas. We are recruiting and expect to have more work coaches in March 2018 compared to today.We will work to minimise the need for redundancy wherever we can, and seek to redeploy colleagues into new roles, but before any final decisions about redundancies are made, there will be full consultation with affected colleagues and trade unions.

Universal Credit

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has commissioned research into the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on levels of household debt.

Damian Hinds: DWP are currently undertaking work, in conjunction with a housing association, to investigate the reality of rent arrears in Universal Credit. It aims to understand the true level of rent arrears for their tenants, what is causing them and any impacts Universal Credit may be having.

Universal Credit

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) individuals and (b) households have received Universal Credit and then reverted back to legacy benefits or tax credits.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not currently available

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been affected by errors resulting from the real-time information system.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reliability of real-time information for the purposes of calculating universal credit entitlement.

Damian Hinds: The Real Time Information (RTI) system ensures that we get Universal Credit claims right by providing us with accurate and timely details of earnings and occupational pension payments from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’. The HMRC database holding the PAYE data reported in real time (RTI) receives the data from employers, holds it and passes on relevant data for Universal Credit claimants to DWP. The system is working well with over 99% of individual employment records now being reported in real time. We don’t collect data on the number of claims affected by errors resulting from the real-time information system. However, only a small proportion of the 1% of remaining cases are referred to HMRC to clarify those earnings with the employer DWP work closely with HMRC to investigate any risks associated with RTI data, and jointly deal with disputes arising when claimants query their reported earnings. As DWP receives copies of the data submitted by employers the risk of data corruption within HMRC is regarded as minimal. However, DWP and HMRC continually monitor the data and no significant problems have been identified. A number of processes are in place to deal with inaccurate data from employers. DWP and HMRC analysts monitor the RTI data received, looking for trends, patterns and causes. Both Departments then work together with employers and partners such as software developers and payroll bureaux to improve the quality of the data. This work supplements the BACS payment validation process.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make the universal credit helpline available free of charge, at least until roll-out is complete.

Damian Hinds: DWP have no plans to introduce a 0800 number for the Universal Credit helpline. If a Universal Credit claimant needs to contact us by telephone, they can call the Universal Credit helpline on a 0345 number. Charges for these calls depend on the service provider, but cost no more than a standard geographic call, and count towards any free or inclusive minutes in a caller’s landline or mobile telephone contract. The Department’s guidance directs staff dealing with Universal Credit claims to call customers back either if they request it or if they express any concern about the cost of calling.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure that everyone making a claim for universal credit is told that they can apply for an advance payment.

Damian Hinds: Universal Credit provides a conversation with all claimants at their initial work search interview to gauge their potential support needs – this could include money advice with a mix of online, telephone and face to face support. If eligible claimants say they are in financial need, an Advance will be made available. We continue to raise awareness of Advances in different ways, for example, by providing options on the UC Helpline, and signposting this vital support through the new “Universal Credit & You” guide for claimants and the new online Money Manager tool offered by the Money Advice Service.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Citizens Advice about universal credit claimants who (a) face excessive delays in their first payment and periods without any income, (b) find it complex to make and maintain a claim and (c) cannot obtain help when they run into problems; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: Universal Credit have always had a strong working relationship with Citizens Advice colleagues nationally, with particular focus on the exchange of information and emerging issues. The Secretary of State, Universal Credit Director General and I most recently met with the Citizens Advice Chief Executive on 17 July. At a working level Ministers and UC officials meet regularly with Citizens Advice to share insight. This includes developing a data dashboard to share Citizens Advice Universal Credit claimant contact data with DWP officials.

Employment: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what workplace guidance is available to employers on the use of discriminatory language towards people with a mental illness.

Penny Mordaunt: We want employers to create inclusive workplaces which support good mental health, and prevent discriminatory language and practices. Many employers already have a strong track record in this area and we want to learn from their success, as well as support other employers to create supportive workplace cultures. There is already a wealth of information available on how employers can support people with mental health conditions. Government sought views on what would further support employers in “Improving Lives - the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ and we are now analysing responses to the consultation. We will also be considering what further guidance could be made available to employers through the internal review of protections from workplace mental health discrimination, announced by the Prime Minister in January.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is after an application is submitted for universal credit before the first payment is received.

Damian Hinds: The assessment period and payment structure of Universal Credit creates a fixed period between date of entitlement and the first payment. The policy intention is that claimants receive the first payment 5 weeks after their date of entitlement (6 weeks if waiting days are served). The assessment period runs for a full calendar month from the date of entitlement, and the UC pay date will be 7 calendar days after the end of the assessment period. This mirrors the world of work and allows for a 1 month period in which to gather information about a claimants’ earnings. Advances and budgeting support are available to support claimants during this period. Advances can provide up to 50% of a claimants indicative award straight away. The latest internal data, for week ending 19 June, suggests some 80% of cases were paid in full at the end of the first assessment period. For the 20% of cases who were not paid in full we estimate around a third have not signed up to their claimant commitment so cannot be paid until they have. The other two thirds have an outstanding verification issue, such as providing bank statements, evidence of childcare costs, or proof of rent. Many of these claimants receive a part-payment where elements of the claim have been verified.

Department for Work and Pensions: Location

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on the local economy of towns such as Merthyr Tydfil as a result of the proposed relocation of his Department's offices.

Damian Hinds: As a large employer, DWP understands the potential impact that a closure or relocation of an office may have. This is why we carefully considered the wider impacts on local communities, like Merthyr Tydfil, as part of the review of our estate. It is important to remember that the economic impact of employment is dispersed beyond the specific location of a workplace and staff currently based at Merthyr Tidfil already live in the broader area around the site. While we expect the majority of these staff to be relocated to a new place of work, it is unlikely that a significant proportion of them will also move their place of residence.

Department for Work and Pensions: Location

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed relocation on the quality of life for his Department's staff who will be relocated, particularly in relation to (a) the increase in the length of their working day due to travel time and (b) the effect on those with caring responsibilities.

Damian Hinds: Under the Public Sector Equality Duty the Department is required to consider the potential impact on people with protected characteristics when making policy decisions and delivering services. We have therefore carried out equality analyses wherever our plans are to close or co-locate an office or service. We used the findings to understand the potential impact of changes to our estate on people – both for the Department’s employees and people using our services. During the consultation process with individual employees who are required to move, their future journey in the context of a working day and relevant personal circumstances, such as caring responsibilities, form part of the decision making process as to whether they will move or the Department will seek to redeploy them into an alternative role.

Department for Work and Pensions: Buildings

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish his Department's equality impact assessment for his Department's estates consultation.

Damian Hinds: DWP has been mindful of its duties under the Equality Act 2010 and has carried out local level equality analysis to inform understanding of the effect of our plans. Careful consideration has been given to the wider effect on the local communities. DWP will maintain services to claimants, whether in their existing jobcentre where a decision is made to retain that office or, where their existing jobcentre will close, at an alternative site. DWP will consider any requests for equality analysis reports in the normal course of business. The Government’s responses to public consultations for some jobcentres are published on Gov.uk at the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=consultations&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-work-pensions&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=&to_date=

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Beef: USA

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last discussed with his European counterparts imports of American beef containing artificial growth hormones.

George Eustice: We are in regular contact with our European counterparts on sanitary and phytosanitary matters. We will not compromise on issues such as animal welfare and the standards of produce when we leave the EU. During both November 2016 and January 2017 Agriculture and Fish Council, the EU’s Free Trade Agreement negotiations were discussed, which included the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and considerations around food standards and beef containing growth hormones.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: The information requested is shown below Financial YearAverage number of bids per tender2012-20134.12013-20143.22014-20153.52015-20162.72016-20172.21/4/17 – to date2.3

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: The information requested is shown in the table below:- Financial YearPercentage of contracts awarded through framework agreements2010-201143%2011-201240%2012-201348%2013-201473%2014-201554%2015-201651%2016-201748%1/4/17 – to date52%

Agriculture: Scotland

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is the Government's policy to (a) maintain or (b) increase the proportion of UK agricultural funding allocated to Scotland under the system that replaces the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy that farmers and crofters in Scotland will receive at least the same level of support after the UK leaves the EU as they do at present.

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to guarantee funding for the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme for 2019.

George Eustice: We will provide stability to UK farmers as we leave the EU and the Government has committed to provide the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament. It will be for the Scottish Government to decide on the allocation of funding to individual schemes including the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme for 2019. The Agriculture Bill will ensure that after we leave the EU we have an effective system in place to support UK farmers and protect our natural environment for future generations. The Secretary of State has spoken to Ministers from Scotland and Wales and officials remain in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Executive. We will continue to engage with the devolved administrations and more widely on the design and the appropriate extent of any legislation.

Tree Planting: Public Places

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in public spaces in the last seven years.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in Southampton in the last seven years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Neither Defra nor the Forestry Commission records the planting data of projects that are not funded directly by either Defra or FC. Many local authorities fund their own tree planting projects; therefore, they record their own planting data. As the information requested is not collated centrally it could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Statistics on the total new planting in England (in hectares), including planting from all other recorded sources, are available from the Forestry Commission’s Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking publication: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx

Electric Vehicles

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to meet its air quality targets by supporting people from low-income backgrounds to buy (a) hybrid and (b) electric vehicles.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has a clear goal that nearly all cars and vans should be zero emission by 2050, and we want people across the UK to benefit from electric vehicles as soon as possible. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles provides a range of grant support to make electric vehicle ownership more affordable. The plug-in car grant offers up to £4,500 off the cost of an eligible electric car, and there is similar financial support for other vehicles, including motorcycles, vans, taxis and buses. Vehicles are increasingly becoming available on the second-hand car market, which makes electric vehicles a viable option for many more people. For both new and second-hand electric vehicle owners there is grant support to help with the cost of a home chargepoint – including for those without off-street parking. This support is offered regardless of household income and the data is not collected to undertake the analysis requested.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of duck welfare rules relating to commercial duck farms; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: The welfare of ducks is provided for in the general provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. Defra has a duck welfare code which encourages high standards of husbandry, and the industry also has its own farm assurance schemes specifically for farmed ducks.

Beaches and Rivers: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of pollution of English watercourses have resulted in bathing restrictions being implemented on (a) watercourses and (b) beaches in each year for which data is available.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The responsibility for implementing restrictions at designated bathing waters lies with the relevant local authority. The Environment Agency advises local authorities when water quality is likely to be adversely affected by pollution. Records of what action is taken in relation to this advice would be held by the local authority.

Rivers: Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people or companies which have polluted English watercourses have done so on (a) two, (b) three, (c) four and (d) more than four occasions since these incidents have been recorded.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has been able to identify the responsible party in 76,265 pollution incidents where there has been an impact to water since 2001. Of the 31,048 different parties recorded there are:a) 4,066 (instances where a party has been responsible for 2 incidents)b) 1,467 (instances where a party has been responsible for 3 incidents)c) 1,060 (instances where a party has been responsible for 4 incidents)d) 503 (instances where a party has been responsible for >4 incidents)

Flood Control: Lytham St Annes

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Environment Agency has made in upgrading water pumps at Dock Bridge pumping station in Lytham.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency, as part of their East Lytham Project, has commissioned the framework contractor BMM to replace the pumps and controls at Dock Bridge pumping station, and also to carry out wider improvements to the culvert and storm pump outfall at Dock Bridge, Lytham. BMM are on site and the works are starting now. The work is due for completion in autumn 2017.

Cuadrilla Resources: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many unannounced onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since November 2016.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has conducted one unannounced site inspection at Preston New Road since November 2016. This took place on 2 March 2017.

Cuadrilla Resources: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since November 2016.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has conducted five site inspections at the Preston New Road site since November 2016. The Environment Agency undertakes a range of activities to assess compliance with the permit, including reviewing the reports and monitoring data. Information on recent Environment Agency compliance activities can be found on the Citizen Space webportal page for the Cuadrilla site.

Flood Control: Lytham St Annes

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Environment Agency has made on dredging Liggard Brook to prevent flooding in Lytham.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has commissioned the framework contractor BMM to de-silt (dredge) the tidal sections of Liggard Brook and Main Drain in Lytham, as part of the wider East Lytham project. The framework contractors will also be surveying silt levels in the non-tidal section of Liggard Brook through Lytham so we can assess the need for further de-silting work. BMM are on site now and the majority of work is due for completion in autumn 2017. The East Lytham project also includes replacing the pumps and controls at Dock Bridge pumping station, and altering the culvert and storm pump outfall to help increase the river flow.

Fish: River Ribble

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of fish stocks in the River Ribble.

George Eustice: To assess the health of England’s salmon rivers and sea trout rivers the Environment Agency carries out annual assessments against salmon stock targets using angler rod catch data. The 2016 assessment places the Ribble in the ‘probably at risk’ category, and the 5 year prediction places it in the poorer ‘at risk’ category. Defra has signed off regulations to cap the number of salmon available to the net and rod fishery. Moreover the Environment Agency and its partners launched the Salmon 5 Point Approach in 2015. Recent assessments of sea trout stocks indicate a healthier picture with the River Ribble deemed ‘not at risk’. The Environment Agency also undertook fish monitoring in the Ribble. In 2016, sites were surveyed throughout the catchment. The results indicate that the salmon and trout are still present in the catchment although salmon have shown a decline which is in line with the number of adults returning. The numbers of trout show average populations and there are small numbers of coarse fish present in the lower Ribble catchment.

Angling: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been prosecuted for angling illegally in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The Environment Agency manages the delivery of the rod licence service as part of its National Enforcement Service. A team (Enforcement Once) based in Warrington, Cheshire, administers sales and enforcement service for around 1 million anglers each year, generating c£21 million in income that is used to deliver improvements for fisheries and the environment. Locally based enforcement officers undertake approximately 65,000 compliance checks each years as part of an integrated fisheries service, that results in approximately 3,000 sanctions, ranging from advice and guidance through to prosecution, being completed each year. The data below shows the number of successful prosecutions of anglers for rod and line offences for waters in Lancashire county. Rod licence SeasonNumber of successful prosecutions2012 / 2013762013 / 2014872014 / 20151172015 / 2016502016 / 2017105Grand Total435

Migrant Workers: EU Nationals

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on steps he is taking to protect the status of EU migrant workers.

George Eustice: Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a range of government departments, including the Home Office, about securing the workforce industry needs for the future.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Leasehold: Advisory Services

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many times (a) he, (b) Ministers of his Department have met with the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership in the last two years.

Alok Sharma: Details of Ministers' and officials meetings with external organisations are published routinely on gov.uk and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-datahttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-expenses-and-hospitality-for-dclg-senior-officialsMinisters, special advisers and officials from my department have all met with the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership over the last two years.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the reason daily briefings were not produced by the Chief Executive of Kensington and Chelsea Council after the Grenfell Tower fire on 13 June 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on what the role of the Chief Executive of Kensington and Chelsea Council (a) was on the night of 13 June 2017 at Grenfell Tower and (b) is in the event of any major crisis affecting that borough.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on any emergency disaster plans developed by Kensington and Chelsea Council prior to the Grenfell Tower fire on 13 June 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on whether Kensington and Chelsea Council maintained lists of local (a) rest centres and (b) empty flats for potential use in the event of an emergency or disaster affecting that borough.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on what training senior executives at Kensington and Chelsea Council received on emergency disaster planning prior to the Grenfell Tower fire on 13 June 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on whether Kensington and Chelsea Council posted their emergency disaster plan for Grenfell Tower online any time between 13 and 20 June 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on what the roles of directors of each department at Kensington and Chelsea Council were relating to the emergency disaster plan that was implemented after the fire at Grenfell Tower on 13 June 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the number of staff employed by the housing department at Kensington and Chelsea Council; and how many of those staff are dedicated to dealing with emergencies of any kind affecting that borough.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on whether the emergency out-of-hours telephone line at Kensington and Chelsea Council is contracted out to the private sector.

Alok Sharma: A month has passed since the Grenfell Tower disaster. Help for the victims continues to be the top priority and we are determined that they should have the support that they need, including offers of appropriate and good quality accommodation and by making financial and emotional support available.Questions about the conduct and internal arrangements of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea local authority will be for the Public Inquiry to consider.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the terms of reference for the building safety review being conducted as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire; which parties were consulted in drawing up those terms of reference; and if he will set out the qualifications and experience of the technical experts who are advising him on building safety.

Alok Sharma: The Grenfell Tower expert advisory panel met on 29 June and agreed terms of reference to provide advice to the Communities Secretary. The panel’s press release can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/expert-panel-on-safety-meets-for-the-first-timeThey also confirmed that they will call upon other experts from a wide range of professions and services as required. The panel has a wealth of experience in fire and building safety, including testing processes.The panel is chaired by Sir Ken Knight, former London Fire Commissioner and former Government Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser. The other core members of the panel are:Dr Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive of the Building Research Establishment. Amanda Clack, President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Roy Wilsher, Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council.A separate independent Public Inquiry will investigate what happened at Grenfell Tower and the wider lessons to be learnt from the fire.

Buildings: Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he was consulted on the terms of reference for the building safety review being carried out on multi-storey buildings after the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: Ministers are being consulted, and are taking key decisions, on steps to be taken following the Grenfell Tower fire. In particular, they are being advised by an expert panel set up in response to the tragedy. On 30 June, a note was published that set out the approach to the testing and checking programme. The note is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing

Insulation: Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to review the procurement guidance on external wall insulation and cladding systems and the quality and safety of the measures being installed.

Alok Sharma: It is for building owners to determine their approaches to procuring external wall insulation and cladding for their buildings in line with relevant regulations. Where building work is undertaken, including external wall insulation and cladding, that work must meet the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations. The expert panel set up in response to the Grenfell Tower fire has led to three pieces of advice to social landlords, which cover insulation and cladding issues. The most recent advice sets out some of the wider considerations social landlords should be aware of when planning further work to remove and possibly replace cladding.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many members of staff from each contributing Department will form part of the team supporting the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 11 July 2017



The Inquiry Secretariat is staffed by civil servants seconded from a range of government departments. Government departments with an interest or stake in the Inquiry have established departmental teams to support the Inquiry's work.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will set out the criteria against which applications for additional funding from local authorities for work to address fire safety in tower blocks will be assessed.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 12 July 2017



Where work is necessary to ensure the fire safety of social housing, we will ensure that lack of financial resources will not prevent them going ahead.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Building Regulations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many building control officers were employed in each local authority area in (a) 2010 and (b) the latest year for which information is available.

Alok Sharma: The Department does not collect this information.Employment matters are for local authorities as the independent employers to decide. The Department does collect certain headline workforce data but this does not include an analysis and breakdown of job roles within the sector.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

High Rise Flats: Construction

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of residential tower blocks which are (a) currently being built and (b) due to start construction soon.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 13 July 2017



The information requested is not collected centrally. Local planning authorities determine planning applications and are required only to submit information to the Department on the number and nature of planning applications received and decisions made.

Opportunity and Integration Review

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to respond to the Casey Review into opportunity and integration.

Mr Marcus Jones: On 5 December 2016, Dame Louise Casey published her independent review of how to boost opportunity and integration in isolated and deprived communities. Since then my Department has been reviewing the available evidence on the main causes of poor integration. In the coming months we will bring forward plans for tackling these issues through a new integration strategy.

Homelessness: Ethnic Groups

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change was in the proportion of homeless household (a) applications and (b) acceptances who were BAME over the last 10 years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.DCLG records data on decisions taken by local authorities on homelessness applications. The statistics on homelessness decisions by the ethnicity of the main applicant for the last ten years can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness#detailed-local-authority-level-responsesA breakdown of homelessness acceptances by the ethnicity of the main applicant is shown in live table 771, published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

Fire Prevention: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to include phenolic foam in fire safety tests of cladding and insulation materials being undertaken in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



Our statement of 6 July set out the approach we are adopting.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/expert-panel-recommends-further-tests-on-cladding-and-insulationThe 2 insulation materials recommended by the expert panel for use in the full testing were rigid polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) and non-combustible mineral wool. There are many types of rigid foam insulation boards available and PIR was considered to be the most appropriate option for purposes of this series of tests.

Insulation: Testing

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for local authorities being permitted to submit for testing at the building Research  Establishment cladding samples that are not of the aluminium composite material construction used on Grenfell Tower.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



Based on the advice of an independent expert group, we are prioritising testing of Aluminium Composite Material cladding. A series of additional system tests have been commissioned as a further step in helping building owners to reach decisions on the best way of keeping their buildings safe.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that the site of Grenfell Tower becomes a memorial garden in perpetuity commemorating the people who lost their life in the Grenfell Tower fire, the survivors and those who saved them.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Homelessness: Coastal Areas

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress the Government is making on reducing homelessness in (a) coastal towns and (b) Southend-on-Sea.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Council Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria will be used to access whether local authorities are able to afford the refurbishment costs associated with ensuring that their properties are safe.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Written Questions

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions his Department has answered that it will not be possible to answer a parliamentary written question within the usual time period in the 2017-19 session.

Mr Marcus Jones: During the current parliamentary session the department issued 76 holding replies to Named Day written questions from Members of Parliament. When it is not possible to provide a substantive reply to a Named Day written question on the date chosen by the Member, a holding reply is provided to the Member pending a substantive response.The department endeavours to respond to all Named Day written questions on the date chosen by the Member but this is not always possible in the timescale available, especially when a question is of a complex nature and requires careful consideration or, in the case of the Grenfell Tower fire, where the situation is evolving at pace, and it is essential we provide accurate information.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish allocations as part of the Local Government Settlement for the central grant for metropolitan and combined fire authorities in England over the next five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: As part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, central grant allocations for both stand alone and combined fire authorities for 2018-19 and 2019-20 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/593187/Supporting_table_Key_information_for_local_authorities.xlsxGrant allocations beyond 2019-20 will be subject to a future spending review.

Derelict Land: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities on the development of brownfield sites for housing in the West Midlands.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Non-domestic Rates

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on reform of business rates.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Non-domestic Rates: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much Southampton City Council collected in business rates in each of the last seven years.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Dorneywood: Grants

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what grant in aid was awarded to the trustees of Dorneywood in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Andrew Jones: The Treasury has not awarded grant in aid to the trustees of Dorneywood in the last five years.

Consumer Price Index: Disposable Income

Kirsty Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent rise in the consumer price index on the level of household disposable income.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is taking action to support incomes. This includes increasing the National Living Wage, raising the personal allowance and freezing fuel duty. Following strong gains in recent years, higher inflation is expected to weigh on Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per head in 2017. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast growth in subsequent years, with the level of RHDI per head rising 2.0% above its 2016 level by 2021.

Child Care Vouchers

Kate Green: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is the Government's policy that new claims for employer supported childcare vouchers will not be accepted from April 2018.

Kate Green: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on new claims for employer support childcare vouchers from April 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: As the Chancellor announced at Budget last year, the existing Employer Supported Childcare scheme will remain open to new entrants until April 2018.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Kate Green: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is the Government's policy that families with more than two children who make new claims for universal credit will no longer be able to claim child tax credit from November 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: In line with roll out plans for Universal Credit, HMRC will not accept any new claims to tax credits from November 2018.

Double Taxation: Malawi

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects a new double taxation treaty with Malawi to be signed.

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to conclude a revised double taxation treaty with Malawi by July 2017.

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in negotiating a new double taxation treaty with Malawi since January 2017.

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure the new double taxation treaty with Malawi will support Malawi's development.

Mel Stride: The text of a new double taxation treaty with Malawi was substantively agreed some time ago. However, in August 2016, Malawi raised some further points for consideration. My officials are discussing these points with their counterparts in Malawi. When that process is complete, and both countries are satisfied with the contents of the new treaty, it will be signed and published. Double taxation treaties are a valuable means of promoting development. They serve to eliminate double taxation, and can reduce excessive levels of taxation, which deter UK companies from making investments and generally doing business in developing countries. These treaties also provide those companies with greater certainty of tax treatment, which gives them confidence to invest, bringing jobs, prosperity, and higher tax revenues in the host country, which are essential for sustainable development. In addition, the UK ensures its double taxation treaties serve a revenue protection function both in the UK and in the other country. That is why UK double taxation treaties now always contain measures which tackle the abuse of reliefs and benefits they grant. Our treaties also permit the exchange of information to counter avoidance and evasion, and, where the other country agrees, contain provisions allowing each tax authority to collect tax on the other's behalf - for example where a person has gone to live in the other country leaving an unpaid tax bill behind.

Public Sector: Pay

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to remove the public sector pay cap during the course of the current Parliament.

Elizabeth Truss: Our pay policy has always been designed to strike the right balance between being fair to our public servants and being fair to all those whose taxes pay for them. That approach has not changed and we continually assess that balance.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Deidre  Brock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2017 to Question 1597, whether the Secretary of State for Scotland has made representations during those discussions for Scotland to receive additional funding as a result of the confidence and supply agreement between the Government and the Democratic Unionist Party.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the Honourable Lady to my answer of 4 July 2017. It has been the practice of successive administrations not to disclose details of such meetings.

TARGET System

Ian Blackford: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Bank of England’s trial to update the Real-Time Gross Settlement system by use of an interledger programme to synchronise payments.

Stephen Barclay: As the Bank of England explained in their article ‘FinTech Accelerator Proof of Concept’, the Bank of England’s trial found that the Interledger Protocol was able to support synchronisation of payments between two Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) ledgers. The trial highlighted the importance of ensuring that the Bank’s High Value Payments System is able to support multicurrency transactions and cross-border payments, and of ensuring that the Bank’s new RTGS system is compatible with the growing use of new technologies.

Taxation: Electronic Government

Bim Afolami: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Making Tax Digital programme, what advice and help the Government is providing to small and medium-sized businesses required to comply with that programme’s requirements.

Mel Stride: The Government announced on 13 July, changes to the Making Tax Digital (MTD) legislation to be included in the next Finance Bill. Only businesses with turnover above the VAT threshold will be mandated to use MTD from April 2019 and then only to meet VAT obligations. Further details are available in the Written Statement that was issued on 13 July. Link below: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statements/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2017-07-13&answered-to=2017-07-13&dept=14&uin=HCWS47 The government is fully committed to supporting businesses in making a successful transition to MTD. HMRC has already begun piloting MTD services and will continue to do so, testing the system extensively.

Inflation: Low Incomes

Neil Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has commissioned research into the effect of inflation on low-income households.

Stephen Barclay: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expect inflation to average 2.4% over 2017 and 2.3% over 2018. Their forecast was reflected in HMT’s distributional analysis published alongside Spring Budget 2017, which illustrates how changes to tax, welfare, and spending policy impact upon households of different incomes. The Government is taking action to support the lowest income households. This includes increasing the National Living Wage, raising the personal allowance, and freezing fuel duty.

Mortgages: Repossession Orders

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of a rise in interest rates on mortgage repossessions.

Stephen Barclay: The Treasury has not made an assessment of the potential effect of a rise in interest rates on mortgage possessions. However, affordability requirements imposed by the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) require lenders to conduct an interest rate ‘stress test’ on all new mortgage loans. The requirement ensures that all borrowers must be able to afford their mortgage repayments if, at any point over the first five years of the loan, their mortgage rate were to be 3 percentage points higher than the reversion rate (SVR) specified in the mortgage contract at origination. In addition, the FPC also requires regulators to ensure that mortgage lenders do not extend more than 15% of new mortgages at loan to income multiples (LTI) at or greater than 4.5. These measures insure against the risk of a significant increase in the number of indebted households in the case of an interest rate rise. For this reason, a rise in interest rates would not be expected to significantly increase the number of mortgage repossessions.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funds had been allocated to Wales up to 2020 before the decision for the UK to leave the EU was made.

Elizabeth Truss: The Welsh Government receives funding from a variety of sources. The Welsh Government’s own spending plans will set out this in detail. http://gov.wales/funding/budget/final-budget-2017-18/?lang=en Details of the Welsh Government’s Block Grant are set out in tables 1.6 and 1.7 of the 2017 Spring Budget document. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/597467/spring_budget_2017_web.pdf The 2016 Country and Regional Analysis contains details of all identifiable public expenditure by the UK Government, Welsh Government and Local Authorities in Wales. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/569815/Country_and_Regional_Analysis_November_2016.pdf

Taxation: Hearing Impairment

Stephen Doughty: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from organisations representing sign-language interpreters for the deaf on the IR35 tax system.

Mel Stride: The Chancellor receives representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Bank Levy

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual yield to the Exchequer of reversing the rate reduction of the Bank Levy introduced in 2015.

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual yield to the Exchequer of the introduction of a banker's bonus tax.

Mel Stride: There was a one off Banker’s Bonus Tax in 2009-10 aimed at encouraging banks to rebuild their financial base in the wake of the financial crisis. Since 2010, the government has been clear that banks should make a fair contribution to the Exchequer. For that reason, in 2011 the government introduced the bank levy, a tax on banks’ balance sheets that has so far raised £14.3bn. In 2015 the government set out a long term plan for bank taxation, announcing the introduction of an 8% bank corporation tax surcharge alongside reform of the levy. The OBR forecast that these two measures will raise £18.9bn over the next five years.

Tax Avoidance

Grant Shapps: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs has recovered from company liquidations caused by unpaid accelerated payment notice debts.

Grant Shapps: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of the amount it will recover if a company goes into liquidation because of accelerated payment notice debt or if that company continues to trade.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has stringent governance arrangements in place where insolvency is considered. Each case is considered individually and, where a company is trading insolvent, HMRC must take the most appropriate action to mitigate the tax losses. Many factors are considered when deciding whether to petition against a company.  HMRC treats unpaid Accelerated Payments as any other established debt using their range of debt collection powers as necessary to recover what is owed, including insolvency powers where appropriate. HMRC does not hold information on the amount recovered from company liquidations caused by unpaid accelerated payment notice debts. Any insolvency action in relation to unpaid accelerated payment notices is currently at an early stage.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to include milk-based products.

Andrew Jones: The government has committed to review the exemption for milk-based products in 2020 based on evidence from Public Health England on the progress the industry has made on reformulating their products.

Nuclear Weapons

Stewart Hosie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse of reversing the decision to renew the UK nuclear deterrent over the next 30 years.

Elizabeth Truss: This government is committed to upholding its responsibility for the protection and defence of the country. It therefore remains government policy to maintain the nuclear deterrent and this was backed by Parliament on 18th July 2016.

Care Leavers: Working Tax Credit

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many care leavers are in receipt of working tax credit.

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is not held by HMRC

Apprentices: Taxation

Karl Turner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers in the (a) shipping and (b) offshore energy industries are liable to pay the Apprenticeship Levy; and for what reasons companies in those industries are not liable to pay the Levy.

Mel Stride: The most recent UK wide forecasts of the number of employers paying the levy in different sectors are published by the Department for Education, and can be found online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545145/Apprenticeships_-expected_levy_and_total_spend_-_Aug_2016.pdf. A more detailed sector breakdown, splitting out shipping and offshore energy industries from the published categories, is not available. The Apprenticeship Levy applies to all employers operating across all sectors. An allowance of £15,000 means only those with a pay bill exceeding £3 million have to pay the levy. Therefore companies in the shipping and offshore energy industries are liable to pay the Apprenticeship Levy only if they have a pay bill of over £3 million.Guidance on what counts towards the paybill can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-apprenticeship-levy

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Meg Hillier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to process rateable value appeals.

Mel Stride: The time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to process rateable value appeals depends on a number of factors. These include the complexity of a case or whether it proceeds to a hearing by the independent Valuation Tribunal. Some cases can be held up in litigation or placed on hold at the ratepayer's request. The Government has reformed the appeals process to ensure that genuine appeals can be dealt with more quickly.

Corporation Tax

Craig Tracey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect the reduction in corporation tax rates has had on receipts from that tax.

Mel Stride: Since 2010, the headline corporation tax rate has been cut from 28 to 19 percent. Despite that, onshore corporation tax receipts have increased by over 50 percent, from £36.2 billion in 2010-11 to £55.1 billion in 2016-17.

UK Trade with EU

Tom Brake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the tax revenue implications of the UK leaving the EU on trade (a) under WTO rules and (b) as part of the Single Market and Customs Union.

Mel Stride: The Government continues to carry out a significant amount of work to assess the economic and fiscal impacts of leaving the EU.The detail of future UK-EU arrangements is now subject to negotiations with the EU. As we enter into negotiations, we will work hard to seek the best possible deal for the UK.

Corporation Tax

Alex Burghart: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect the reduction in corporation tax rates has had on receipts from that tax.

Mel Stride: Since 2010, the headline corporation tax rate has been cut from 28 to 19 percent. Despite that, onshore corporation tax receipts have increased by over 50 percent, from £36.2 billion in 2010-11 to £55.1 billion in 2016-17.

Loans: Cars

Rachel Reeves: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for the wider economy of the trend in the take-up of personal contract purchase plans for cars.

Stephen Barclay: The independent Financial Policy Committee, was set up by the government to assess and mitigate financial stability risks. The FPC recently published in June the Financial Stability Report (FSR) which assessed recent trends in the consumer credit market including car finance. The FSR noted that consumer credit has been growing rapidly but that loss rates on consumer credit lending are low at present.

Public Sector Debt

Johnny Mercer: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress is being made on reducing the deficit.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 2010, the deficit has been reduced by three-quarters. However, as the OBR’s Fiscal Risks Report published last week shows, the public finances remain vulnerable and it’s important for this country to bring down its levels of debt.That is why the government has committed to reduce the structural deficit to below 2% and get debt falling as a share of GDP by 2020-21, guiding the public finances back to balance by the middle of the next decade.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Trade Agreements

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the length of discussions on the EU trade deal.

Mr Robin Walker: After we leave the EU, the UK hopes to enjoy a deep and special partnership with the European Union, taking in both economic and security cooperation. This will enable prosperity for both the UK and the EU, and allow us to protect our shared European values. We want to have reached agreement about our future partnership by the time the two year Article 50 process has ended, in March 2019. From that point, we believe a time-limited, phased process of implementation will be in our mutual interests, and will help to minimise disruption on both sides. The exact details of an implementation period will be a matter for negotiation.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2017 to Question 2279, on immigration: EU nationals, what the Government's policy is on the status of partners of EU citizens from non-EU countries residing in the UK on a visa sponsored by an EU citizen with permanent residency as set out in the Immigration Rules.

Mr Robin Walker: As set out in the policy paper “Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU”, family members of eligible EU citizens resident in the UK before we leave the EU will also be able to apply for settled status after five years provided they meet the criteria. Those joining after our exit will be subject to to the same rules that currently apply to non-EU nationals joining British citizens, or alternatively to future immigration arrangements.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union has cancelled one contract since it was formed on 14 July 2016, no contracts have been retendered.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what proportion of procurement contracts were awarded through framework agreements by his Department since it was established.

Mr Steve Baker: Since the Department for Exiting the European Union was established, 75% of contracts over £10k have been awarded via framework agreements.Government departments are required to publish details of contracts awarded over £10k. We have excluded lower value contracts under this threshold from the response as the administration with tracking contracts of low value can only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many bids were on average received for each contract put out to tender by his Department since it was established.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union does not hold this information centrally. It is the Department’s commercial policy to compete requirements wherever this is possible in order to be able to realise best value for money. Depending on the size of the procurement, a range of methodologies are used including the sourcing of three or more quotes, government frameworks, or an open competitive tender.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2017 to Question 2279, on immigration: EU nationals, whether the process will differ for people (a) with permanent residence applying for a grant of settled status and (b) submitting new applications to reside in the UK.

Mr Robin Walker: We will be asking EU citizens to make an application to the Home Office for documentation demonstrating their new settled status in due course. This process will be as streamlined as possible for all individuals, whether that be new applicants or those who already hold a residence document under current free movement rules.Anyone who would like to find out the latest information, including when they will need to sign up for the new scheme, can sign-up for email updates here: https://gov.smartwebportal.co.uk/homeoffice/public/webform.asp?id=67&id2=627DF7&active=True

Economic Situation: Scotland

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment into the effect that leaving the single market would have on the economy of Scotland.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government is committed to securing a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom - for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and all parts of England. We have been engaging with the Scottish Government and have been clear from the start that the devolved administrations should be fully engaged in this process.The Prime Minister has stated that we will we will not seek membership of the EU’s Single Market after we leave the EU, but a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement as part of a new, deep and special partnership. The Department for Exiting the EU is working with officials across government and undertaking a programme of analytical work to assess the economic impacts of exiting the European Union across all areas of the UK.Parliament has repeatedly asked the Government to protect information that could undermine the UK's negotiating position and the Government will respect this.

Service Industries

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK’s (a) services and (b) digital sector in the event that the UK leaves the EU and only operates as a member of the WTO in its trading relationship with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government is focused on getting the best possible deal with the EU to ensure that the Services and Digital sectors can continue to trade as freely as possible.The Department for Exiting the European Union, working with officials across government, continues to undertake a wide range of analysis to support our negotiations. This is part of the government’s continued programme of rigorous and extensive analytical work on a range of scenarios.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 3597, on immigration, how individuals will be able to enforce within and outside the UK the rights contained within the Withdrawal Agreement which will have the status of international law.

Mr Robin Walker: The agreement on Citizens’ Rights will be enshrined in UK law and enforceable through the UK judicial system, up to and including the Supreme Court. We are also ready to make commitments in the Withdrawal Agreement which will have the status of international law. We are committed to rules-based international order and the UK takes seriously the responsibilities we have signed up to via international agreements.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 3597, what form of dispute resolution body he envisages enforcing the rights in the Withdrawal Agreement which will have the status of international law.

Mr Robin Walker: The large majority of ​international agreements involve some form of dispute resolution or enforcement mechanism​ and there are a range of models for dispute resolution mechanisms in international agreements.We have been clear that we will bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the United Kingdom. The dispute resolution mechanisms adopted as part of our future relationship with the EU will be a matter for negotiation.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2017 to Question 1733, whether the exact reciprocal agreements to be reached through negotiations with European partners may differ from the position set out by the Government in its recent publication of 26 June 2017, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The exact reciprocal agreements will be reached through negotiations with our European partners. We are both clear that we want to protect the broad range of rights and entitlements currently enjoyed by both EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU. We want to seek a reciprocal agreement with the EU to safeguard the rights of UK citizens, but it will be for the EU and its Member States to decide how they will implement any agreed deal.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Carbon Emissions

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the level of carbon emissions from his Department's estate since his Department's establishment.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade’s carbon emissions for the 2016/17 financial year, have been calculated and reported as part of the carbon footprints of its previous departments, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Department will be calculating its carbon emissions for the 2017/18 financial year onwards and reporting them under the Greening Government Commitment and as part of its Annual Report and Accounts.

Department for International Trade: Consultants

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of his Department's (i) non-departmental public bodies and (ii) executive agencies spent on external consultants and advisers since his Department was established.

Mark Garnier: I refer the hon. Member for Livingston to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hemsworth on 24 April 2017, UIN: 70225.

Department for International Trade: Consultants

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many expert groups his Department has set up since its establishment; and what the areas of their expertise are.

Mark Garnier: A list of all such groups set up by Government Departments are listed on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups.As well as formal expert groups, Department for International Trade officials draw on the expertise of international trade practitioners to provide ad hoc independent, strategic and expert advice and external challenge on our trade strategy and capability.

Department for International Trade: Sick Pay

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the cost of sickness pay to staff in his Department has been since it was established.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) became a legal entity and an employer in its own right on 9th November 2016. Since that date the total cost of sickness pay to UK staff within the Department is as follows: DIT payroll: £88,660 (9th November 2016 – 30th June 2017)UK Export Finance (UKEF) payroll: £68,159 (9th November 2016 – 30th 2017)Total: £156,819 DIT and UKEF have reported data separately as two payroll providers are used.

Department for International Trade: Buildings

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list his Department's premises in the UK with more than 10 members of staff by nation and region.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade retains a presence in 22 premises in the United Kingdom England:King Charles Street, London1 Horseguards, London3 Whitehall Place, London55 Whitehall, London1 City Walk, LeedsBaskerville House, BirminghamLarkhill Barracks, SalisburySt Paul’s Place, SheffieldAlexandra House, LeedsPolaris House, SwindonSt George’s House, GatesheadStanton Avenue, TeddingtonBridge House, GuildfordEastbrook House, CambridgeQueensway House, BillinghamPiccadilly Gate, ManchesterDaresbury Science Park, WarringtonVictoria Square House, BirminghamRivergate, BristolApex Court, Nottingham Scotland:15 York Street, Glasgow Wales:Companies House, Cardiff

Department for International Trade: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many bids were on average received for each contract put out to tender by his Department since it was established.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade does not hold this information centrally. However, it is the Department’s commercial policy to compete requirements wherever this is possible in order to be able to realise best value for money. Depending on the size of the procurement, a range of methodologies are used including the sourcing of three or more quotes, or alternatively, a full competitive tender.

Department for International Trade: Advertising

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much was disbursed on advertising by (a) his Department and (b) each of its (i) non-departmental public bodies and (ii) executive agencies since his Department was established.

Mark Garnier: The total value of advertising spend since the Department for International Trade (DIT) was created is outlined below. This expenditure covers the Great Campaign which moved to DIT from the Cabinet Office in 2016. This is the government’s domestic and international marketing campaigns which include Exporting is GREAT, Invest in GREAT Britain and the GREAT International Trade Campaign, which all support the government’s aims to increase UK exports, drive more demand for UK goods and services and increase the level in foreign investment into the UK.Advertising for marketing and recruitment purposes for DIT: £13,364,662 (of which £13,072,437 relates to the GREAT campaign).UK Export Finance spent approximately £7,500 on advertising costs from July 2016 to March 2017 and £4,610 from April to June 2017.

Exports

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the total value of exports of goods and services was to (a) countries comprising the EU single market and (b) the rest of the world in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mark Garnier: Data on the value of UK exports of goods and services to the EU countries and the rest of the world are available from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) at the following link (Table 3):https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/adhocs/006656balanceofpaymentsannualgeographicaldatatables/2015updateddetailedgeographictradedata.xlsSource: ONS Balance of Payments annual geographical data tables.

Department for International Trade: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered since his Department's creation.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has not cancelled any contracts put out to tender since July 2016. One contract has been re-tendered.

Department for International Trade: Trade Promotion

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many trade delegates he has led since taking up his position; and to which countries he has led those delegates.

Mark Garnier: Since July 2016, the Department has led 51 trade missions to key markets across the world covering over 19 sectors, with an average number of 15 delegates per mission. My Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade accompanied the Prime Minister with a business delegation to India in November 2016.The Department for International Trade Ministers undertook 134 visits in the Department’s first year; 97 were overseas, underlining the Department’s commitment to helping British companies win business in international markets.

Trade Agreements

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what red lines he is using in trade talks on (a) employment rights, (b) environmental protections, (c) consumer rights and (d) human rights.

Mark Garnier: The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally and this will continue as we leave the EU. We are exploring all options in the design of future bilateral trade and investment agreements, in conjunction with other departments across Whitehall.

Trade Promotion: Iron and Steel

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to promote the UK steel industry in future trade deal negotiations.

Mark Garnier: The UK is a leading proponent for free trade and is committed to supporting the UK steel industry to secure a sustainable future. The Government has commissioned independent research into future market opportunities for UK steel and is actively encouraging the sector to identify the capabilities it will need to act on the findings. We are also preparing a UK trade remedies framework for when we leave the EU that will provide a safety net for our businesses against unfair trading practices, including in the steel sector.

Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list the human rights priority countries that he or Ministers in his Department have visited over the last 12 months; what briefings on human rights such Ministers received before those visits; and what discussions those Ministers had on human rights in each of those visits.

Mark Garnier: The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally and this will continue as we leave the EU. We do not shy away from confronting barriers to trade and investment – including issues of human rights and corruption.The Department for International Trade is working closely with other departments in particular the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Ministerial Briefing for every country visited includes country profiles provided by the FCO which where appropriate, set out human rights issues.

Overseas Trade: Saudi Arabia

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights has informed his Department's policies on trade and investment with Saudi Arabia.

Mark Garnier: The UK is strongly committed to the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. The National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights is included in the Department for International Trade’s online advice to businesses operating in Saudi Arabia to highlight the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and their responsibilities under national and international law wherever they operate. In addition, the Department continues to work with all international partners on the promotion of Human Rights in its international engagements.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Small Businesses

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the (a) time taken and (b) costs paid by small businesses to access British Telecom ducts under physical infrastructure access regulations.

Matt Hancock: Ofcom has published (April 2017) a consultation on duct and pole access (DPA - sometimes called passive infrastructure access - PIA), which proposed to make such access faster, easier and cheaper. Altnet providers, such as WarwickNet, are already using PIA to connect customers on much shorter timescales than previously. In the consultation, Ofcom outlined how the planning and deployment of fibre infrastructure using PIA should be improved. Openreach is already providing telecoms providers with better network information, with its PIA Digital Mapping Tool, and streamlining operational processes. Ofcom also proposed capping Openreach’s rental charges for PIA access and redistributing the costs of changes to the network across all users. These proposals would make it cheaper for other telecoms providers to deploy fibre using Openreach’s duct and pole infrastructure. Ofcom will set out more detail on these proposals later in the summer.

Culture: EU Grants and Loans

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether funding for the creative industries will remain at the same level as currently received from Creative Europe in the event that the UK ceases paying into Creative Europe when the UK leaves the EU.

Matt Hancock: Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. We are discussing closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest.

Data Protection: Ethics

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to set up a Data Ethics Commission.

Matt Hancock: Data governance, and the effective and ethical use of data, are vital for the future of our economy and society. The Government is committed to creating a sound ethical framework in the UK that will give people confidence in how their data is being handled and used. We are currently considering the British Academy and Royal Society’s thoughtful report in this issue (https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/projects/data-governance/data-management-governance.pdf) and will set out next steps shortly.

Mayflower: Anniversaries

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to the Mayflower 400 year anniversary celebrations in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.

John Glen: DCMS, through VisitBritain, has allocated £260,000 in 2016-17 and £240,000 in 2017-18 towards the Mayflower 400 celebrations. Additionally, Mayflower 400 received a £35,000 Arts Council England grant towards the Mayflower Museum in February 2015. Plymouth has received other Arts Council grants which will benefit the celebrations indirectly.

Digital Technology: North of England

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many of the companies represented on the Government's Digital Economy Council are headquartered in (a) Newcastle, (b) the North East and (c) the North of England.

Matt Hancock: The Digital Economy Council is representative of the tech community across the UK and its membership will include companies headquartered in Newcastle, the North East and the North of England. The full membership of the Digital Economy Council will shortly be published on GOV.UK.

Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Digital Economy Council is representative of the digital sector in all regions of the UK.

Matt Hancock: The Digital Economy Council and the Digital Economy Advisory Group are both representative of the tech community across the UK. They include international companies as well as businesses and tech organisations from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, representing some of the UK's most successful and innovative digital sectors. The full membership of the Digital Economy Council and Digital Economy Advisory Group will shortly be published on GOV.UK.

House of Commons Commission

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance

Chris Bryant: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate it has made of the cost of a change in the timetable for a decision on the proposed restoration and renewal programme for the Palace of Westminster.

Tom Brake: The Joint Committee on the Palace of Westminster, published its report on the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) of the Palace of Westminster in September 2016.[1]The report set out next steps for the Programme,[2] based on the Joint Committee’s recommendation that a full decant be undertaken to deliver the works, stressing that timings were indicative only and that it will be for the proposed Delivery Authority, once established, to put together a more detailed schedule for the development of the Programme.The Independent Options Appraisal produced by the Deloitte-led consortium and published in June 2015 provided estimates of the inflationary impact on capital expenditure of a delay to the construction start date. A range of estimates were provided across the options under consideration and at different levels of certainty. Based on the scenario of full decant, as recommended by the Joint Committee, with some defined improvements to the Palace, the range of predicted inflationary impacts was £78m to £167m per annum.[3]Additional costs for ongoing maintenance to the Palace will also continue to be incurred. [1] HL Paper 41 / HC 639, published 8 September 2016.[2] p90, next steps for the R&R programme[3] The Independent Options Appraisal analysis was based on an assumed start date of Q2 2020 delayed to Q2 2025

House of Commons: Cybercrime

Grahame Morris: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the source of recent cyber attacks on the House has been identified; and what steps are being taken to deter future attacks.

Tom Brake: It is the House of Commons Commission’s long-standing practice not to comment on matters of security. For this reason, I am unable to comment on the source of the recent cyber attack. Following the attack, a number of measures have been taken of which honourable Members will be aware, including the enhancement of multi-factor authentication to secure user accounts. There is a substantial ongoing programme of work to improve Parliament’s cyber security. Parliament has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre to understand the attack and put further mitigation measures in place.

Department of Health

Social Services: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many elderly people Southampton City Council supports with adult social care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In 2015/16 Southampton Local Authority provided short term support to 1,585 people aged over 65 and long term support to 2,605 people aged over 65.

Department of Health: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by his Department was in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: Detailed information on the average number of bids received for each contract put out to tender by the Department may be available within the Department’s Business Management System. However, to provide an answer by specific categories would require a review of each individual contract, and would result in disproportionate cost.

Department of Health: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of public procurement contracts his Department awarded through framework agreements in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: Detailed information on the proportion of public procurement contracts the Department has awarded through framework agreements may be available within the Department’s Business Management System. However, to provide an answer by specific categories would require a review of each individual contract, and would result in disproportionate cost.

Department of Health: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many contracts put out to tender by his Department have been (a) cancelled and (b) re-tendered in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: Detailed information on contracts put out to tender by the Department which have been cancelled and re-tendered may be available within the Department’s Business Management System. However, to provide an answer by specific categories would require a review of each individual contract, and would result in disproportionate cost.

Down's Syndrome: Screening

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when non-invasive prenatal testing for Down's syndrome as recommended by the National Screening Committee in November 2016 will be made available through the NHS.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timeline is for national procurement of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down's syndrome as recommended by the National Screening Committee in November 2016.

Mr Philip Dunne: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee recommended a pragmatic approach to roll out non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as part of an evaluation, to provide further information to ensure the full national implementation is optimised and safe. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation will mean that the test is rolled out across England in such a way that the screening programme can be altered if necessary in light of any real life findings. The timeline for the procurement of NIPT for Down’s screening is now linked to the timeline that has been set for the procurement of genomic labs. Within that context, the planning assumptions are that NHS England will go live with the new genomic laboratory infrastructure in October 2018 and that as part of that process, NIPT will be included in the directory of tests to be made available.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on developing a national strategy for children of alcoholics.

Steve Brine: The Government is considering what further support it can provide to tackle alcohol harms, focusing on vulnerable groups including families and children.

Nurses: Labour Turnover

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve the recruitment and retention of nurses.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service is employing more nurses than ever before with 307,491 “full time equivalent” nurses, midwives and health visitors in post (March 2017) and a further 52,000 in training.Led by the Chief Nursing Officer for England, the Department is working with Health Education England (HEE), NHS England and other partners to improve the recruitment and retention of nurses.HEE, which is responsible for ensuring there is sufficient future supply of staff to meet the workforce requirements of the NHS inEngland1, forecasts more than 40,000 additional nurses by 2020. There are new opportunities to join the NHS as nursing associates and through the nurse apprentice scheme, announced last year which should see up to 1,000 nurse apprentices join the NHS each year. HEE is also leading a £5 million campaign to get experienced nurses who have left the profession back to work through its Return to Practice Programme. Delivered by 38 universities, since 2014, 3,400 have joined the Programme and over 2,000 nurses have completed it and are ready for employment.NHS Improvement is working with trusts to support the development of their improvement plans for retaining the nursing workforce through, for example, ensuring trusts’ demonstrate leadership and culture support, and nurture staff in an environment of continuous learning for the benefit of patients. The Department is also leading work with NHS England, HEE and others to do more to retain nurses through, for example, working with the NHS to improve opportunities for flexible working. The Department is also working with the Care Quality Commission to see how staff welfare issues can be included in their hospital inspection regime so progress can be tracked.Note:1Information on future supply and specialty fill rates can be found in HEE’s Workforce Plan for England 2016-17.https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/HEE%20commissioning%20and%20investment%20plan%202016-17_0.pdf

Nurses: Training

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial support is offered to nursing students.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial support is offered to nursing students with dependents.

Mr Philip Dunne: From 1 August 2017, new pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health students will no longer receive National Health Service bursaries. Instead, they will have access to the same student loans system as other students. Students studying for pre-registration level nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects as a second degree will also be able to access the student loans system. Under the loans system, students on pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health courses will receive around a 25% increase in the financial support available to them for living costs whilst at university. The precise change for individuals will be dependent on their circumstances – for example, where they study, the length of the course, income and residency. The Government has already committed to additional funding to help support new pre-registration healthcare students. These include child dependents allowance, placement travel and accommodation expenses and hardship funding for exceptional cases. This funding will be non-repayable and is in addition to the standard student support package.

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses from (a) EU, (b) non-EU and (c) commonwealth countries are employed by the NHS; and how those numbers have changed in the last seven years.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the National Health Service in England. Nationality is self-reported within the NHS human resources and payroll system, the electronic staff record. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services: Qualified Nursing and Health Visiting Staff in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups as at 30 September each specified year and latest data as at 31 March 2017Qualified Nursing and Health Visiting Staff (headcount)European Union nationals (including United Kingdom)Non-EUCommonwealth Countries (excluding UK)2010232,22730,42816,0552011238,45929,03015,3602012239,22727,64414,5632013248,82826,28513,7792014257,39325,48513,3062015264,93825,03212,7502016269,94325,49512,522March 2017273,12025,88212,609Source: NHS Digital

Southampton General Hospital: Nurses

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses joined the workforce at Southampton General Hospital in the last 12 months.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes data on the nurse and health visitor joiners in the National Health Service in England. The Department only holds data by trust rather than individual hospitals. The number of nurse and health visitor joiners to University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust between 31 March 2016 and 31 March 2017 was 476 (headcount).

Blood: Imports

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what changes have been made to the monitoring guidance on safety of (a) domestic and (b) imported blood products in each year since guidance was introduced.

Jackie Doyle-Price: United Kingdom blood donations have been tested for infections since the 1940s when testing for markers indicating syphilis for example, first began. Since then, testing for hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C, and human T-lymphotropic virus has been introduced. Details are available at the following weblink:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570444/NHSBT_PHE_Data_Sources_and_Methods_2015.pdfHepatitis E testing was introduced in 2017. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for the safety and licensing of medicines in the UK. Human medicines, including those derived from blood components, require an authorisation to market, unless exempt and are manufactured or imported commercially under a manufacturer’s licence. Their manufacture or importation is subject to the provisions of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 which reflect European Community law for human medicines. Previously medicines were subject to the 1968 Medicines Act. Every batch of manufactured or imported licensed human medicine is tested for conformity with its marketing authorisation to ensure its quality, safety and efficacy. Each donation should be tested in compliance with European Union legislation and the European Pharmaceutical monograph “Human plasma for fractionation”. Plasma pools should also be tested according to this monograph. This is available at the following weblink:http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/pages/includes/document/open_document.jsp?webContentId=WC500109627 . Additional testing and specifications of plasma pools are required for specific products. This includes testing for hepatitis B, HIV antibodies, hepatitis C RNA of each fractionation pool and additional testing for Parvovirus B19V DNA for specific products, such as virus-inactivated pooled plasma and anti D immunoglobulins and hepatitis A RNA for virus-inactivated pooled plasma. Individual donations are screened; the tests are defined in the following: - Ph. Eur. monograph Human Plasma for Fractionation is available at the weblink:http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/pages/includes/document/open_document.jsp?webContentId=WC500109627 - Council of Europe Recommendation No. R (95) 15 on the preparation, use and quality assurance of blood components is available at the weblink:https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwjkpcqry4PVAhVCKFAKHfwhBCQQFgg3MAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.edqm.eu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fleaflet_blood_guide_18th_edition_2015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGqDcIclacYoVQoiB32SGgznRH1ig- Guideline on plasma-derived medicinal products 21 July 2011 is available at the weblink:http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/pages/includes/document/open_document.jsp?webContentId=WC500109627 - Scientific data requirements for plasma master 15 November 2006 is available at the weblink:http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/pages/includes/document/open_document.jsp?webContentId=WC500003663

Blood: Contamination

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have died as a result of contaminated blood products in each Parliamentary constituency in each of the last 30 years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

Blood: Contamination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to hold a public inquiry into contaminated blood products.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On Tuesday 11 July, the Prime Minister announced the intention to hold an inquiry into the events that surrounded the infection of thousands of people with HIV and/or hepatitis C through National Health Service supplied blood or blood products. The Government will now consult with victims and their families in order to ensure that their views are fully considered in deciding the most appropriate style and scope of an inquiry.

Hospitals: Labour Turnover

Trudy Harrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department gives to NHS trusts and hospitals to improve the recruitment and retention of (a) maternity unit, (b) paediatric unit and (c) other hospital staff.

Mr Philip Dunne: National Health Service trusts are responsible for the recruitment and retention of their workforce to ensure safe staffing levels. There are no specific, separate programmes for maternity and paediatric units. The Department commissions Health Education England (HEE) to work with the NHS to ensure there is sufficient future supply of staff to meet the workforce requirements of the NHS in England. Details are in its Workforce Plan for England 2016-171.The NHS is employing more clinical staff than ever before with, for example, 307,491 nurses, midwives and health visitors (up by more than 7,000 since 2010) and HEE has over 52,000 nurses in training with forecasts for more than 40,000 additional nurses by 2020. It will be for NHS trusts to work with HEE, nurses and other clinical staff to decide how their careers develop. This could include specialising in maternity, paediatrics or other hospital services.The number of nurses providing “early life” care which includes maternity and paediatric services is 24,446 full time equivalents (March 2017), a rise of 3,250 (15.3%) since 2010.The Department commissions NHS Improvement to lead the national programme to develop and deliver NHS safe staffing improvement resources for specific care settings which would include maternity, paediatric and other hospital services. NHS Improvement is working with trusts to support the development of trust improvement plans for retaining their clinical workforce through, for example, ensuring trusts demonstrate leadership and culture support, and nurture staff in an environment of continuous learning for the benefit of patients.The Department is also leading work with NHS England, HEE and others to do more to retain clinical staff through, for example, working with the NHS to improve opportunities for flexible working. The Department is also working with the Care Quality Commission to see how staff welfare issues can be included in hospital inspections so progress can be tracked.Note:1https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/HEE%20commissioning%20and%20investment%20plan%202016-17_0.pdf

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many irritable bowel disease specialist nurses have been employed by the NHS in England in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not collected centrally by NHS Digital.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that women resident in Northern Ireland seeking an abortion in mainland Britain are made aware of the risks involved in undergoing an abortion.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any funding from the public purse has been disbursed to (a) Marie Stopes International and (b) the British Pregnancy Advisory Service for the purposes of campaigning for a change in the law on abortion in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is neutral on the subject of abortion legislation. Information on contracts held by clinical commissioning groups with independent abortion providers, including Marie Stopes International and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service is not collected centrally. No funding has been provided directly from the Department to either organisation which has been used for the purpose of campaigning. All women seeking abortion, including women travelling to England for an abortion from Northern Ireland, must be given impartial, accurate and evidence based information (orally and written) delivered neutrally, which includes what to expect during and after the abortion. Clinical guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (2011)’ states that “complications and risks should be discussed with women in a way that they can understand and should emphasise the overall safety of the procedure”.

Batten Disease: Brineura

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the estimated average annual cost is to the NHS of providing Brineura (Cerliponase Alfa) to someone with the CLN2 variant of Batten Disease.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average annual cost is to the NHS of care and treatment of people with (a) any Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis disease and (b) the CLN2 variant of that disease.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the UK are undergoing care and treatment for (a) all Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis diseases, (b) the CLN2 and (c) the CLN5 variants of that disease.

Steve Brine: The support and care given to this group of people includes a range of treatments and supportive measures, including: anti-epileptic medication; physiotherapy; treatment for spasticity; and treatment for dystonia (including bracing and wheelchairs). Progressive feeding problems require speech and language management and gastrostomy insertion. Pain management is required for end of life care. Given the wide range of treatments and supportive measures, it is not possible to estimate the average annual cost of treating an individual with a Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis disease, especially since some of these costs will fall to NHS England and some to clinical commissioning groups. It is estimated that there are between 45 and 90 people undergoing care and treatment for all Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis diseases of whom between 19 and 38 have CLN2 and fewer than 10 have CLN5.

Fast Food: Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on limiting the number of adverts aimed at children which promote the consumption of junk food.

Steve Brine: Current advertising restrictions in the United Kingdom on high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) products are among the toughest in the world. Strict new rules came into effect on 1 July banning the advertising of HFSS food or drink products in children’s media. These restrictions apply across all non-broadcast media including in print, cinema, online and in social media. Officials from the Department of Health and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport meet regularly to review these restrictions.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many abortions on the grounds of disability were carried out on women resident in Northern Ireland in 2016.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There were 13 abortions performed for residents of Northern Ireland in England and Wales under Ground E (risk that the child would be born ‘seriously handicapped’) in 2016.

Blood: Contamination

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers of his Department and (c) officials of his Department have had with counterparts in the Welsh Government on the terms of the recently announced inquiry into contaminated blood.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On Tuesday 11 July, the Prime Minister announced the intention to hold an inquiry into the events that surrounded the infection of thousands of people with HIV and/or hepatitis C through National Health Service supplied blood or blood products. The Welsh Government will be consulted as the Inquiry is taken forward.

Department of Health: Cost Effectiveness

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the value-for-money framework which his Department applies to all non private finance 2 and private finance 1 projects.

Mr Philip Dunne: The methodology after the Outline Business Case stage for assessing value for money for schemes which are to be conventionally funded, is then unchanged from existing guidance in e.g. the Capital Investment Manual, published in 1994. In November 2011 the Coalition Government announced a complete reform of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) model after a review. This recognised the need to address the widespread concerns with PFI – too slow and expensive; too inflexible and a lack of transparency. A new Public Private Partnership model to replace the PFI was announced in 2012, Private Finance 2 (PF2). Key features of the new PF2 model include the Government co-investing in projects as a minority shareholder to strengthen the partnership working and share in any returns and exclusion of 'soft' facilities management services such as cleaning and catering to improve flexibility. As part of the PFI review, the Coalition Government undertook to revise the value for money guidance. Further guidance was published in December 2012.

Nurses: Recruitment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust reporting that the Trust has been unable to fill 560 nursing posts as at the end of June 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: Responsibility for staffing levels rests with individual National Health Service trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service, taking into account skill mix, efficiency and the needs of their local population. There are almost 13,100 more nurses on the wards since 2010. And by increasing the number of training places for both new and nurses returning to practice, we continue to support the growth of our nursing workforce in the health and care sector nationally. Health Education England (HEE) has increased the number of commissions for nurse training places year on year since it was created in 2013. In September 2014, HEE introduced the Return to Practice programme that has focused on encouraging nurses that have left the profession to return to nursing with the right training and support available to them. Over 2,000 nurses have completed their re-training to date and are now available for employment on the front line to provide care and support to patients.

Nurses: Recruitment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the relative cost of housing compared with wages in (a) Oxford and (b) Oxfordshire on the ability of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to recruit nursing staff.

Mr Philip Dunne: The recruitment of nursing and other staff to deliver safe patient care is the responsibility of employers across the National Health Service. The average pay for full time nurses is £31,278 per annum, well above national average full time earnings of about £27,000 per year. In addition, from completion of training nurses can expect eight incremental pay rises worth £936 (3.8%) on average each year on top of annual pay awards plus benefits including an excellent pension. However, we are not complacent and acknowledge the challenges staff have in securing suitable accommodation in some parts of the country. That is why the Government wants to support key workers such as nurses by making homes more affordable with steps outlined in the Housing white paper to increase supply. Currently the Government funds a range of home ownership schemes including Help to Buy Equity Loans and Shared Ownership to support key workers to buy a home where they are unable to afford market prices locally. In addition, the Department has been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to understand better the housing need for NHS staff. The need for affordable homes for NHS staff differs across the country, and we are working with the NHS, local authorities, housing associations and other partners to explore opportunities for supporting local solutions, including the option for NHS organisations to use their surplus land to provide staff housing.

Nurses: Recruitment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the effect of the UK leaving the EU on that Trust's ability to recruit nursing staff.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of EU citizens working in the NHS in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency and (c) Oxfordshire.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Secretary of State for Health has not had discussions with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust specifically on the Trust’s ability to recruit nursing following the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. The Secretary of State holds regular discussions with all National Health Service trusts throughout the year on a broad range of issues, including workforce. NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the NHS in England. The table below shows the number of EU27 citizens employed within trust’s active in Oxfordshire at 31 March 2017: European Union 27Total Specified Organisations1,783NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group3Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust318Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust1,462Notes: The nationality field available within the systems, upon which these figures are based, contains self-reported information from individual employees. Nationally thousands of NHS staff records do not contain useful data with people choosing not to specify their nationality or not asked to. In addition, as nationality is self-reported the value entered by an individual may reflect their cultural heritage rather than their country of birth. As such, these figures should be treated with a significant degree of caution Source: NHS Digital, NHS Hospital and Community Health Service workforce statisticsThe Department is committed to ensuring that the NHS and social care system have the nurses, midwives, doctors, carers and other health professionals that they need. As negotiations continue around the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, the Department and its arm’s length bodies will continue to support the health and care system to ensure they are able to deliver the services on which patients rely. The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the NHS, and is working across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high quality service that patients expect.

Mental Health: Children and Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department in taking to improve mental health literacy among children and young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Prime Minister announced earlier in the year that the Department for Education would be funding a series of random control trials on preventative practice in schools. We intend to test two different approaches to teaching mental health literacy as part of these trials.

Mental Illness: Children and Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the funding per head for the treatment of mental illness has been for children and young people (a) under the age of 10, (b) aged from 10 to 25 and (c) aged over 25.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested. Spending on mental illness is not broken down by age.

Mental Illness: Children and Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people (a) under the age of 10, (b) aged from 10 to 25 and (c) aged over 25 have suffered from mental illness in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

HIV Infection

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of funding for research into HIV.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Expenditure by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on infection research, including research into HIV, has more than doubled from £15.9 million in 2009/10 to £35.0 million in 2015/16 (the latest available figure). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including HIV. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Heart Diseases

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of funding for research into heart disease.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Expenditure by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on cardiovascular disease research, including research into heart disease, has increased by 60% from £31.6 million in 2009/10 to £50.6 million in 2015/16 (the latest available figure). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including heart disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to communicate the Chief Medical Officers' low-risk drinking guidelines to the public.

Steve Brine: The new drinking guidelines are included in a range of public health messaging, including ‘One You’ and ‘NHS Choices’ to encourage the public to drink within the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines. The Government has also published guidance to the alcohol industry on how the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines can be communicated to the public, for example through product labelling, and is working with representatives of the alcohol industry to promote the implementation of this guidance. A copy of the guidance is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communicating-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-alcohol-guidelines

Cancer

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps heis taking to improve the outcomes for people with cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020, in July 2015 and it represented the consensus views of the whole cancer community. The Government has accepted all 96 recommendations in the strategy, and implementation is being led by NHS England’s National Cancer Transformation Board. An implementation plan, Taking the strategy forward, was published in May 2016 and the first annual report, One Year On, was published in October 2016 in which NHS England confirmed funding of over £600 million to support delivery of the strategy. In December 2016, NHS England confirmed that £200 million of this funding will be used over the next two years to set up a fund to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier, improve the care for those living with cancer and ensure each cancer patient gets the right care for them. Cancer Alliances are being asked to bid for a share of this funding.

Cancer: Charities

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support he is providing to charities which support people with cancer and their families; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: NHS England is committed to transforming cancer services and improving outcomes for people with cancer through implementation of the independent Cancer Taskforce strategy; Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A strategy for England 2015-2020. The National Cancer Advisory Group, which is chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar of Cancer Research UK and includes representation from cancer charities, patients and professional groups, provides advice and challenge to the implementation programme. We are also working with charities and patient groups throughout our programme to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce.

Mental Illness: Prescriptions

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including mental health conditions in the list of prescription charge exemptions; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no such assessment. We have no current plans to change the list of medical conditions which provide for exemption from prescription charges.

NHS: Awards

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total expenditure on the Clinical Excellence Awards was in 2015-16; and what the value was of such awards by (a) Employer Based Awards Committees and (b) the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards.

Mr Philip Dunne: In 2015/16, expenditure on new and renewal awards payments issued by the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (which administers national Clinical Excellence Awards in England and Wales) was just over £157 million including on costs. Payments were made to 2,948 consultants. Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own schemes. The value of individual national awards in England and Wales for 2015/16 was £35,484 for Bronze, £46,644 for Silver, £58,305 for Gold and £75,796 for Platinum. This excludes on-costs. We do not centrally hold expenditure figures for (local) Employer Based Awards. The monetary value of individual local awards in 2015/16 was as follows:Level 1£2,957Level 2£5,914Level 3£8,871Level 4£11,828Level 5£14,785Level 6£17,742Level 7£23,656Level 8£29,570Level 9£35,484

Palliative Care

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve palliative care in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 5 July 2016 we published ‘Our Commitment to you for end of life care’, which set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality, personalised care a reality for everyone. This Commitment includes measures to enable personalisation, measures to improve care quality and education and training in end of life care and measures to encourage the spread of innovative models of care. ‘Our Commitment to you for end of life care’ is available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/publications/choice-in-end-of-life-care-government-responseOver the last 12 months the National End of Life Care Programme Board has been taking forward implementation. All relevant arm’s length bodies and key charitable partners are represented on the Board to ensure system wide action and accountability. We are aiming to publish a progress report on the delivery of the Commitment this summer.

Propranolol: Prescriptions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prescription items for Propranolol were issued in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: The table below provides information on the number of prescription items of propranolol hydrochloride written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England, 2010 to 2016.  Propranolol Hydrochloride20103,024,99620113,269,32920123,508,28420133,752,97220144,050,36020154,349,50420164,694,616Source: Prescription Cost Analysis

General Practitioners: Vacancies

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP vacancies there are in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) North Kirklees.

Steve Brine: Data published by NHS Digital show that there were 430 full time equivalent general practitioner (GP) vacancies recorded in England over the period April 2016 to September 2016. This figure is based on responses from 866 practices out of a total 7,527 practices in England (11.5%). Data on GP vacancies are not available for West Yorkshire or for North Kirklees.

Crimes of Violence: Females

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on meeting priority 22 of the Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on meeting priority 23 of the Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on meeting priority 21 of the Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2020, published in March 2016.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Progress continues to be made by the health sector against all three of these actions in the Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan. On priority 21, discussions are ongoing between the Chief Medical Officer and relevant policy officials. A survey has been completed of domestic violence teaching in medical schools and this has been accepted for publication. Medical Royal Colleges are considering how to increase the profile of VAWG teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. On priority 22, the Department produced in March 2017 an online publication, ‘Responding to Domestic Abuse – a resource for health professionals’ is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-a-resource-for-health-professionalsThe publication calls for routine enquiry into domestic abuse to become a fundamental part of the skills and practice of every health professional. More broadly the National Health Service provides care and support to victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence through a wide range of health care services, including services for physical and mental health. Routine enquiry is already in place in maternity and mental health services, to improve earlier disclosure and support people to get the care that they need. The Department has supported the Royal College of General Practitioners to develop a Violence Against Women and Children e-learning training course for general practitioners (GPs) and other primary care professionals to improve their recognition of and response to patients suffering from violence and abuse is available at:http://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/search.php?search=violence+against+women+and+children The Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) programme provides staff training and a support programme to bridge the gap between the voluntary sector and primary care, providing an improved domestic violence service. It is designed to encourage clinicians and administrative staff to ask clients about domestic abuse and violence and then either to react with an appropriate support, treatment and care). IRIS has been developed as a commissionable model for implementation nationally – it has been commissioned in 34 sites in England and one in Wales, where it is running in over 1,000 GPs. IRIS Advise is a further development of IRIS targeted precisely at sexual health services and has been successful in pilots in Bristol and east London. On priority 23, the Department is working with NHS Digital to develop a work programme to support this commitment. In October 2017 NHS Digital will be submitting the Emergency Care Dataset (ECDS). This addresses an identified information gap, and will achieve substantial benefits for patients and the wider urgent care system. It will be implemented across emergency departments in England including all Type 1 Accident and Emergency (A&E) wards, and injury data will be collected as an integral part of the dataset. The introduction of ECDS should encourage consistent data collection, helping A&E wards to meet the Information Sharing to Tackle Violence standards. The new version of the Mental Health Services Dataset went live in April 2017. Discussions are ongoing regarding how mental health data can support delivery of priority 23.

Locums: Accident and Emergency Departments

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total spending on locum doctors in accident and emergency departments, by NHS trust, was in each of the last seven years.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not collected centrally. The Department collects total spending on agency and contract staff by National Health Service trust. It is not possible to separate accident and emergency departments from other departments, nor doctors from other staff groups.

Women and Equalities

Minister for Women and Equalities: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the oral Answer of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what steps her Department has taken to use 2011 census classifications, including on Gypsies and Travellers, to audit racial disparities in public service outcomes.

Nick Gibb: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by my Right Honourable Friend, the member for Ashford in response to PQ 3079.

Minister for Women and Equalities: Equality

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the contribution from the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what work is being done to progress work to distinguish Gypsies and Travellers using 2011 census classifications in her Department.

Nick Gibb: I refer the Honourable Member for Stretford and Urmston to the answer given by my Rt hon. Friend, the member for Ashford in response to PQ 3079.

Equality Act 2010

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the sustainability of the definition of a long-term condition in the Equality Act 2010.

Nick Gibb: The current definition of ‘long term’ conditions under the Equality Act 2010 allows the courts flexibility when applying the law in individual cases. We recognise that there are concerns that the protections offered by the Act can be hard to access for people with fluctuating conditions. The robustness of the definition is one of the issues we are exploring in our consideration of extending protections from discrimination in the workplace for those with mental health disorders.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Heidi Allen: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the decision to abolish the role of disability commissioner was taken outside of a Equality and Human Rights Commission Board meeting; and when that decision was made.

Heidi Allen: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, (a) how and (b) when the decision to abolish the role of disability commissioner was communicated to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Disability Advisory Committee.

Heidi Allen: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Disability Advisory Committee was (a) consulted and (b) informed in advance of the abolition of the role of disability commissioner in June 2017.

Nick Gibb: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent public body and decisions about the roles and responsibilities of its Board members, and how these are communicated within the organisation, are matters for the Commission itself.I have therefore asked the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested. I will place a copy of the letter in the libraries of both Houses.